Jemele Hill Opens Up About Finding Love and Wedding Plans: 'He Makes My Spirit Lighter'

Jemele Hill is officially out of the dating game.

The journalist and former ESPN anchor — who made headlines in 2017 for her war of words with President Trump — sat down with PEOPLE following a live taping of her Jemele Hill Is Unbothered podcast interview with Sen. Kamala Harris on July 6, which took place during Essence Fest in New Orleans.

After she and the popular Democratic candidate tackled tough topics like the state of health care and economic strategy, Hill, 43, cheerfully opened up about her happy life now with fiancé Ian Wallace.

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“So it’s happening in November,” Hill said of her encroaching wedding day. “Obviously I’m really excited and the closer it gets the more excited I become.”

Wallace, 38, who like Hill hails from Detroit, popped the question on a rooftop in Los Angeles back in December after nearly four years of dating. When it comes to why he’s the one, Hill says he’s the total package.

“I think number one, in addition to being hot,” she says with a laugh, “the one thing that has always been important to me in a mate is somebody who is comfortable in their own skin and who is very secure. A lot of women will tell you, especially if they’re ambitious, driven, successful, that it is hard to find men who are secure. There’s a lot of insecure dudes out here.”

But that just wouldn’t work for Hill. “I knew, given how much I travel, how much I meet people and interact with people, the public persona I had, somebody who’s insecure could not be with me. So that’s one of the many things about him that appealed to me.”

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That, along with the fact that “he just made me laugh,” she says. “I have so much heaviness in other parts of my life and he really makes me lighter, he makes my spirit lighter.”

One other thing making her happy these days is that she’s found the perfect wedding dress — and it was the very first one she tried on! “The reason I picked it is because I felt like Michelle Obama would get married in this dress,” says Hill.

“Seriously, when I put it on and twirled in the mirror, my best friend, she was there, and I was like ‘Michelle Obama would get married in this dress’, and she was like ‘Yes! She would!’ I said ‘This is the one.’ “

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And with just three months to go ahead of the big day, the couple’s social calendar is already filling up with some high-profile events.

Earlier that day, after Hill had asked Sen. Harris about her storied roast chicken recipe, the busy politician replied with an invitation.

“The joy of my life is to cook Sunday family dinner,” said Sen. Harris. “If I ever get home, you come over with your fiancé and I will cook for you.”

Add that to Hill’s hectic schedule these days, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I got a lot going on,” she says, “but I don’t really know any other mode so it kind of feels natural.”

Jemele Hill Is Unbothered podcast is available now on Spotify.