A former Oakland Raiders cheer captain just landed cable television's most coveted seat.
Fox News announced that Emily Compagno will officially become a permanent co-host on "The Five" starting Sept. 8, joining Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, and Jesse Watters at the roundtable. Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr. will keep trading off in the show's liberal chair, which honestly sounds like the most stressful timeshare arrangement in television.
The slot opened up because Jeanine Pirro departed last year after President Donald Trump appointed her as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Since then, Fox rotated through a carousel of fill-in hosts, which is basically the political punditry version of speed dating.
CEO Suzanne Scott called Compagno "a highly accomplished host" with standout energy and talent, and said the network was "thrilled to officially welcome her." Scott also described "The Five" as "a powerhouse and appointment viewing for millions of Americans." That's not hyperbole for once. The program has held the number one position in all of cable news for 19 consecutive quarters. It regularly pulls bigger audiences than Fox's own primetime lineup, despite airing at 5 p.m. Eastern. A show that goes head to head with local traffic reports is somehow dominating television. Let that sink in.
The whole show started back in 2011 as essentially a parking lot for Fox contributors who didn't have their own programs. It was the Island of Misfit Pundits. Now it's become the network's premier launching pad. Both Gutfeld and Watters turned their roundtable gigs into primetime shows of their own.
Scott once told Variety in 2019 that the show's magic formula mirrors how regular people actually interact, with friends and family members who hold wildly different opinions but still manage to laugh together at the end. Which is a generous description of what most Thanksgiving dinners look like in America.
The timing is no accident. Cable networks are gearing up for midterm election season, with CNN and MS NOW also positioning themselves to grab a slice of the political audience pie. Fox clearly wanted their roster locked in before the campaign chaos kicks into high gear.
As for Compagno's background, the California native has been with Fox since 2018, serving as a contributor, legal analyst, and co-host of "Outnumbered." She's also hosted content on Fox Nation and a true crime podcast for the network. Before all of that, she worked as a criminal defense attorney. And before THAT, she was captain of the Oakland Raiders cheerleading squad. Her resume reads like three completely different people got merged into one.
She also comes from a military family, which at this point just feels like resume overkill. Cheerleader, lawyer, military kid, TV host. Somewhere there's a career counselor taking credit for this.
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