Fox News just filled one of the most visible seats in cable news.
Emily Compagno is becoming a full-time co-host of The Five, the network announced Monday.
Her first day in the permanent role will be September 8.
The move gives a familiar Fox personality an official place at the table after years of appearances across the network, including regular turns on The Five.
Fox News Media said Compagno will join Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino and Jesse Watters, while Harold Ford Jr. and Jessica Tarlov will continue rotating in the program’s liberal seat.
Compagno will leave her current position on Outnumbered, where she has been a co-host since 2021. Fox said rotating network personalities will fill that midday seat until a permanent replacement is selected.
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott called Compagno a standout whose energy and talent made her a natural addition to the show. Compagno said she “couldn’t be more honored” to join a team she has admired and worked alongside for years.
The network said The Five captured more than 64 percent of the cable-news audience in its time slot during the second quarter. It also ranked first across all of cable among independent viewers.
The announcement quickly began making waves among longtime Fox viewers:
.@TheFive has named @EmilyCompagno a full-time host. She will officially join the program beginning Sept 8th alongside @greggutfeld @DanaPerino @JesseBWatters as well as the rotating liberal seat featuring @HaroldFordJr and @JessicaTarlov.
More: https://t.co/aKHQ0gfN3D pic.twitter.com/lTdizND7md— johnny dollar (@johnnydollar) August 24, 2026
TheWrap confirmed that the promotion is a permanent move, not another guest-hosting assignment. Compagno is leaving Outnumbered and will take her new seat on September 8.
The change also closes the biggest hole left in the show’s lineup after Jeanine Pirro departed Fox News to become the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Fox had kept that place open while a rotating cast filled in.
That matters because The Five has become Fox’s ratings engine despite airing at 5 p.m. Eastern, outside the traditional prime-time window.
The program averaged 3.6 million viewers during the second quarter of 2026, including 322,000 viewers in the key 25-to-54 demographic. Fox says that marked its 19th straight quarter as the most-watched program in cable news.
The show has also served as a launchpad for its biggest personalities. Gutfeld and Watters each host separate prime-time programs, while Perino co-anchors America’s Newsroom in addition to her place on The Five.
Compagno has already spent years appearing with the panel, so Fox is choosing a host who knows the personalities and the pace of the program.
Her departure creates a second major decision for the network: finding a permanent new partner for Harris Faulkner and Kayleigh McEnany on Outnumbered.
Compagno was already showing exactly why she fits the format. The show’s official account featured her in a sharp on-air exchange just hours before the promotion was announced:
“They sit in tiny apartments, get DOORDASH and type up these stories thinking, ‘GOTCHA!’” 🛒 @EmilyCompagno blasts CNN’s attempt to debunk RFK Jr.’s $20 meal, arguing hardworking American families understand how to stretch ingredients, shop sales and cook healthy meals. pic.twitter.com/Fz69FYRGGX
— The Five (@TheFive) August 24, 2026
Compagno joined Fox News as a contributor in 2018. Before television, she practiced criminal defense and civil litigation, later serving as a federal managing attorney and acting director at the Social Security Administration.
She also served as a judicial extern on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, captained the Oakland Raiders cheerleading squad and represented the NFL on a USO tour to Iraq and Kuwait.
Her first book, Under His Wings, debuted at No. 1 on both Amazon and the New York Times bestseller list, according to Fox.
The appointment drew immediate attention well beyond Fox’s own audience:
Emily Compagno joins Fox News' 'The Five' as co-host https://t.co/PVzn56zm9j
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 24, 2026
Axios reported when the program marked its 15th anniversary in July that its average audience had grown 148 percent since its 2011 launch.
The outlet found that the show was averaging more than 3.6 million viewers in 2026, making it cable news’s top program and the highest-rated non-sports show across cable.
The show’s strength has always been the chemistry at the table. The panel can move from a serious political fight to a joke without feeling like five strangers reading assigned lines.
Original co-hosts Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld credited the program’s staying power to that chemistry and the willingness of panelists to challenge—and tease—one another without making the set feel frozen.
That chemistry makes a permanent casting decision more important than it might look from the outside.
Fox is not rolling the dice on an unknown personality. It is giving the seat to someone who already understands the rhythm of the program and has spent years building trust with its audience.
Compagno now has one of the most coveted jobs in television—and she starts in just over two weeks.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
