After a hiatus, the pundit returned to The Five on Monday where he refuted his prior account about deflating his now-wife Emma’s tires as a ploy to get close to her

Jesse Watters is addressing a controversial anecdote he shared earlier this month about “letting the air out” of his now-wife’s tires in order to give her a lift.

Upon his return to The Five on Fox News on Monday, following a medical leave for his back, Watters referred to what he called “Deflategate” when some of his co-anchors asked him if he had gotten in trouble for his comments.

On a previous episode of the panel series, Watters, 43, said that he once “let the air out of” now-wife Emma DiGiovine’s tires when he “was trying to get [her] to date” him.

“She couldn’t go anywhere. She needed a lift, I said, ‘Hey, you need a lift?’ She hopped right in the car,” Watters recalled at the time of how they got acquainted.

The story eventually went viral on social media, drawing a range of reactions and criticism.

However, on Monday, Watters insisted “that was a joke” and “I never deflated anyone’s tires.” (On the initial episode, the anchor did not explicitly state that he was joking and insisted that “it has a happy ending” for the pair, who wed in December 2019.)

“Is that the first time you did it or did you use that before?” asked Jeanine Pirro about Watters’ tire-deflating strategy.

“Works like a charm,” he said at the time.

Watters and DiGiovine tied the knot in December 2019. They welcomed their now-1-year-old son, Jesse Jr., in April 2021.

“Married the love of my life one year ago today,” Emma captioned a gallery of wedding snapshots on their first anniversary. “And what a year it’s been.”

She added, “I love you forever @jessewatters and can’t wait for our next chapter – coming soon❤️❤️❤️❤️💙.”

Prior to DiGiovine, Watters was married to Noelle Inguagiato. The former pair finalized their divorce in 2019 after 10 years of marriage, and share twin daughters.