Fox & Friends First co-anchor Ainsley Earhardt will debut February 29 as Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s replacement on Fox News Channel’s morning show Fox & Friends, the network announced this morning. Earhardt began her career at FNC in 2007 as a correspondent, and has been co-host of Fox & Friends First, airing weekdays 5-6AM ET. She will be a familiar face for the franchise’s audience, having also served as a substitute co-host for both the weekday and weekend iterations of Fox & Friends.
Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of FOX News, this morning cited Ainsley’s “relentless work ethic, congeniality and enthusiasm for connecting with our viewers and staff” which he called “extremely refreshing.”
“She’s a superb team player and an excellent on-air host,” Ailes added.
In November, FNC anounced Hasselbeck was leaving to devote more time to her three children. She’d only joined FNC in 2013 after filling the conservative role on the panel of ABC’s daytime talker The View. In July of 2013, Fox News announced Hasselbeck would leave The View and join F&F, with longtime host Gretchen Carlson getting her own show in the afternoon. Carlson had been responsible for some of the most exuberantly head-scratchy morning infotainment TV moments, in a daypart where the head-scratchy bar always has been set pretty high.
A rotating co-host will take Earnhardt’s place on Fox & Friends First until a replacement is named.
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