"Princess" Perino: "Grandma America"

Clayton Morris: Dana worried about looking like a fool. Fox & Friends Weekend guest co-host Dana Perino admitted to a fit of nerves the night before she began the show Saturday. When co-anchor Clayton Morris introduced co-host Alisyn Camerota’s fill-in, he revealed that Dana had arisen at 2:00 a.m. because she was not able to sleep. In response, she readily admitted, “I was so nervous!”*

However, in her first four-hour F&FW marathon, the former White House Press Secretary (2007-2009) seemed almost at ease as Clayton and co-host Dave Briggs joked goatishly about “sausage” during stories about a streaking sausage burglar and racily about eagerly getting “behind” the hot-models-get-visas proposal from NYC Mayor Bloomberg. In fact, as the final hour began, Dana seemed even more relaxed as she shared some of her personal life, declaring, “I just found out that my grandchildren, Rachel and Sebastian–my grand twins in Scotland, are watching. So, we’ll say a little ‘hi’ to them. They call me ‘Grandma America.’”**

Nevertheless, in the last half hour, Dana showed her more staid, stodgy side during a segment with TLC’s “The Unpoppables” artist Addi Somekh. After she and Clayton had interviewed him, Somekh created a crown for a rather reluctant Dana. When Somekh placed the tawdry tiara atop her head, an almost dour Dana exclaimed, “Oh! Well, this’ll look great on YouTube. This will be great.”*** As Clayton began to tease her, Dana gamely smiled and wryly remarked, “I’ve gone from White House Press Secretary to Poppable, Unpoppable balloon art wearer.”

Later, in the last F&FW block, Dana tried to get her groove on as she sat on the curvy couch with Clayton, Dave, and Somekh. As she held a Somekh’s freshly fashioned a pseudo “Star Wars bar” tiara in her hand, Dave declared, “We’re about out of time here on Fox & Friends. We want to thank Princess Dana Perino, former  [White House] Press Secretary.”**** Bravely donning her new headdress, Dana replied, “I know. He made this for me: So, I feel like I have to be a good sport and put it on. He says, ‘It’s a balloon cosmic princess.’”

Subsequently, as F&FW ended, Dana demonstrated that not only had she done her duty but also had almost enjoyed it. As Clayton invited viewers to the After the Show Show, he pointed to Dana’s crown (then atop his head) and teased, “Dana was worried about looking like a fool.”*****Dana stammered, “No, I, I feel perfectly comfortable now.” Clayton rejoined, “I don’t know what she was talking about. This is Fox & Friends!”

Well said, Clayton.

*Fox & Friends Weekend – 02/18/11 @6:01 a.m. ET.

**Ibid. @ 9:01 a.m ET.

***Ibid. @ 9:38 a.m. ET.

****Ibid. @ 9:59 a.m. ET.

*****Ibid. @ 9:59 a.m. ET.

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Tags: alisyn camerota, Clayton Morris, Dana Parino, Dave Briggs, David Briggs, FNC, Fox & Friends, Fox and Friends, Fox News, Star Wars, TLC, Unpoppables