“Fox & Friends” Steve Doocy will step again from full-time co-hosting duties and completely decamp to Florida the place he’ll remotely be a part of colleagues Brian Kilmeade, Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence Jones thrice per week starting later this month.
Doocy fought again tears on Thursday morning as he introduced that it was his final day he could be alongside his co-hosts from their Midtown Manhattan studios.
“After decades of getting up at 3:30 and driving into NYC in the dark, today is the last day I will host the show…from the couch,” Doocy informed viewers on Thursday’s broadcast. “I am not retiring, I’m not leaving the show. I’m still a host — but it’s time for a change.”
Doocy, who turns 70 subsequent 12 months, will now function “Fox & Friends’” full-time distant host, overlaying on-the-ground options just like the present’s widespread diner segments.
Latest examples embrace his reside dispatch from Rooster N Pickle, a suburban Kansas Metropolis pickleball venue.
He’ll report from throughout the nation whereas Kilmeade, Earhardt and Jones proceed to host from the New York studio.
Doocy stated he counted greater than 6,800 pre-dawn wake-ups and over 31,000 hours of reside tv from the present’s iconic “curvy couch.”
He stated he was relieved to be taking up a brand new function that enables him to commerce sleepless mornings for time together with his household — and a extra versatile schedule.
“Do you remember the eighties Dunkin’ Donuts commercial where the alarm clock goes off at 3:30? ‘It’s time to make the donuts,’” Doocy stated Thursday morning on-air.
“For the last 30 years when my alarm clock goes off—at 3:30—if it wakes up my wife Kathy, she always says, ‘It’s time to make the donuts.’ And I say, you’re right, ‘It’s time to make the donuts,’ and I get up and go to work.”
Based on Doocy, synthetic intelligence helped calculate simply how typically that alarm has sounded — 6,828 occasions.
“That, ladies and gentlemen, is a lot of donuts,” he quipped. “It’s a great job… but the hours suck.”
Efficient instantly, Doocy will contribute remotely three days per week because the present’s new “coast-to-coast host,” broadcasting from Florida and past.
The transfer got here after discussions with Fox Information CEO Suzanne Scott, whom Doocy known as “a friend for over 30 years.”
“She gave me a great option — to keep working on this show… just not every day,” Doocy defined.
“Essentially it’s the Johnny Carson deal. Remember Johnny worked his three days in Burbank, and I’ll be based in Florida. Which means you may never see me in a necktie again.”
Florida’s strategic location will enable Doocy to file tales from often-overlooked corners of the nation.
“I’ll be going from the Carolinas to the Keys. From Middle America to Mar-a-Lago,” he stated. “Call me the coast-to-coast host.”
The shift additionally marks a private milestone for Doocy, who acknowledged the toll morning TV has taken on household life.
“When my kids were growing up, I never had breakfast with them. I was here. Kathy did everything,” he stated.
“But starting tomorrow, I’m going to have breakfast with my grandkids and my children whenever I can.”
This new chapter begins with a go to to Washington, DC, to satisfy his new child grandson, George, adopted by a visit to Dallas to go to daughter Sally, her husband Ali, and their rising household.
“They needed more space… because Sally’s having a boy in July,” Doocy famous with delight.
Doocy assured viewers he’s not retiring: “I will continue to join this couch crew for commentary. You have trusted me for all these years and don’t worry, you will still hear my voice and my opinions loud and clear—despite whatever seasonal pollen is killing me.”
He supplied heartfelt because of colleagues behind the scenes — from safety and the café crew to the make-up staff and studio producers –and gave a particular nod to govt producer Megan Albano for serving to accommodate his new schedule.
Although stepping again from day by day internet hosting duties, Doocy promised he received’t be a stranger.
“As for the cast on the couch — who I love and adore — if this was the last day I’d ever work with you again, the waterworks would be flowing, you know me. But after a little vacation, I’ll be back on the show, via the magic of television.”
“I’m transitioning from ‘It’s time to make the donuts’ to ‘It’s time to make the breakfast, Grandpa,’” he stated.
“Now step on it.”
