Usha Vance Tackles Marriage Rumors in Rare Interview, Says ‘There Are Things That I Miss’ About Old Life

Usha Vance addressed curiosity surrounding her marriage to Vice President JD Vance in a rare interview, after public appearances without her wedding ring sparked online speculation.

The second lady, who largely avoids media attention, spoke with USA Today in an interview conducted on Dec. 8 and published Dec. 13. During the conversation, she reflected on life in the public eye, her family, her religious background and the recent focus on her marriage.

Looking back on her life before her husband’s political rise, the former litigator, 39, said, “There are things that I miss and things that I’m excited to have moved on from.”

Married to JD Vance for more than a decade, Usha also commented on the rumors that followed her appearance without a wedding ring. She acknowledged the fascination but made clear she doesn’t take it seriously.

“I find that one of the really curious things about this life is that people really like to read the tea leaves, and there’s a kind of an industry building stories about everything that they can imagine,” she told USA Today.

She said she and the vice president find the attention “kind of funny,” adding that it’s not something she finds worth dwelling on. “I’d rather just sort of live in my marriage and in the real world and less in kind of the fever dreams that surround it,” she said, calling the chatter more of a “family joke” than a concern.

Addressing the wedding ring directly, Usha was blunt. “I wear it when I wear it, and I don’t when I don’t,” she said, noting that sometimes she’s simply come from the gym or hasn’t put it back on after showering.

Speculation about the couple’s relationship intensified after Usha visited Camp Lejeune in November without her ring, and later gained traction following JD Vance’s widely shared embrace with Erika Kirk at a Turning Point USA event in October. Comments the vice president made at that event about his wife’s faith also drew attention.

At the Oct. 29 gathering, JD said he hopes Usha — who was raised Hindu and continues to identify as such — might one day convert to Catholicism, as he did in his 30s.

Speaking about her background, Usha told USA Today that growing up in southern California exposed her to friends from many religious traditions. “Everything you could possibly name,” she said.

The couple, who met while studying at Yale Law School, are raising their three children — sons Ewan, 8, and Vivek, 5, and daughter Mirabel, 3 — as Christians, according to previous remarks by the vice president. Usha shared that they plan to spend Christmas with her family this year.

Before entering the national spotlight, Usha worked as a litigator and served as a Supreme Court law clerk. After JD Vance’s vice presidential nomination, her profile was removed from the website of her former law firm, which later praised her work and wished her well in her future career.