'Feeling Fabulous' at 50: Inside Megyn Kelly's Intimate Milestone Birthday Celebration

Megyn Kelly

Megyn Kelly is celebrating a milestone birthday.

Over the weekend, the Megyn Kelly Show podcast host — who turned 50 on Wednesday — was surprised by her husband, Doug Brunt, their three children and a few close friends with an intimate celebration.

"This past week I celebrated my birthday with friends and family," Kelly tells PEOPLE. "I have never had a more exciting time with a small group of people where I laughed so hard my stomach hurt."

"My husband offered a toast and said the kind of things that make your eyes well up," she says of Brunt, with whom she shares daughter Yardley, 9, and sons Edward, 11, and Thatcher, 7.

"I am so grateful to the few who attended and said, 'Yes, I'll be there,'" she adds of her friends, who took health precautions to attend the gathering amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Megyn Kelly Megyn Kelly at her birthday celebration

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In addition to her birthday, the group also celebrated another milestone in the former Fox News anchor's life: her podcast doubling in listeners month over month since its launch in September.

According to a source, Kelly, who finalized her departure from NBC's Today in January 2019, is thoroughly enjoying her new venture.

"Megyn turns 50 today and she's feeling fabulous," the source says, adding that Kelly has "fallen in love with the authenticity of podcasting."

Megyn Kelly Megyn Kelly's birthday celebration

Megyn Kelly Megyn Kelly's birthday celebration

Kelly announced two months ago that she would be launching a podcast under her independent media company, Devil May Care Media. At the forefront of the company is The Megyn Kelly Show, which features interviews with political, legal and cultural figures.

"Every journalist's dream is to cover the biggest stories and talk to the most interesting people without the shadow of a politicized media institution hanging over them," Kelly said in a statement at the time. "That's what I'm about to do. With Devil May Care Media, I answer only to my audience and my conscience."