Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson celebrated together after North Carolina beat rival Duke on October 17. Nearly two weeks later, TMZ and People Magazine reported that the couple had split, with TMZ saying the split came almost a year ago, even as they kept appearing in public together. Then a reporter who covers the Tar Heels week after week pushed back in public.
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“They are one of the most famous couples in the world. I’m sorry it’s newsworthy,” WRAL Sports reporter Pat Welter wrote on X. “It is what it is. I’m sure TMZ didn’t publish their report without vetting it. All I can tell you is people who know Hudson that I talked to say the breakup arraignment isn’t true.”
Welter’s claim rests on anonymous sources close to Hudson, not on direct confirmation from the couple themselves.
Welter wrote that in a reply to another post about the report, and the responses were harsh. Fans questioned why a reporter who usually covers serious news was weighing in on a celebrity relationship. His response was that the couple’s fame makes it newsworthy, and that his own reporting did not match TMZ’s.
“TMZ reported Belichick and Hudson broke up and remain business partners and friends. WRAL has reached out to Hudson and UNC. No response,” he wrote in the earlier post. “Multiple sources I’ve talked to that know or work with Hudson say they aren’t aware of any breakup. Here they are after the Duke win.”
Neither Belichick nor Hudson has publicly confirmed whether they are still together. TMZ reported that a source said Hudson has started seeing other people. Welter’s sources dispute the split itself, not just TMZ’s timeline.
Two people inside the UNC football office, including a high-ranking staff member, told USA TODAY Sports they were unaware of a breakup, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the situation.
“One source said Belichick attended a Hudson cheerleading competition in April,” Welter confirmed in another X post. “Another said they’ve spoken to her multiple times in 2026 and had no indication of a breakup. Another said recent convos with Hudson about Belichick had been loving and supportive.”
Hudson has stayed visible around the program all season. She was on the sideline for the September 12 win over East Tennessee State, where her interaction with Welter drew attention online, and she attended the October 3 loss to Notre Dame and Belichick’s postgame news conference.
In late September, Hudson was pictured next to Belichick at a high school game in Maryland. She last posted him on Instagram on May 2, in a picture of the pair holding hands at Churchill Downs.
“It’s a personal relationship, and she doesn’t have anything to do with UNC football,” Belichick said in 2025, when asked whether the relationship would affect his first season at North Carolina.
Belichick and Hudson, 74 and 25, have been in the public eye as a couple since 2024, when their age difference first sparked debate. The attention comes at a turbulent moment for UNC: Michael Lombardi, the general manager, resigned in September amid an internal investigation, and Steve Belichick departed in October after his medical leave concluded.
Until Belichick or Hudson addresses the reports, the story rests on conflicting reports. North Carolina, meanwhile, is 4-4 after a 38-35 loss to Miami, and the coach’s next news conference will likely bring more questions than the football alone.