Fox’s finest foxes have left the building: But, the vixens did it different ways. Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Kiran Chetry was unceremoniously escorted out of the FNC den sans her personal belongings according to NYMag.com whereas whilom F&FW co-anchor Alisyn Camerota was given an “emotional @FoxNews send-off” with her belongings packed by her colleagues. Happily for their respective fans, they both subsequently found a home–at CNN.
As long-time Fox News viewers may well remember, Kiran was a rising star at FNC as co-host of both Fox & Friends Weekend (and Fox & Friends First) in 2006 and she was widely expected by her phalanx of fans to take over for E.D. Hill whenever she left her center seat on the curvy couch: However, FNC Senior VP of Programming Bill Shine dashed her and their hopes when he selected the rather awkward and too oft solipsist Gretchen Carlson for the position on September 22, 2006. Later, in early 2007, Kiran negotiated for a new contract with a high-powered agent who, according to FNC, wanted a term for Kiran to replace Gretchen by a certain date: Conversely, purportedly, she simply wanted a provision that she could escape her contract if she were not awarded that position by a certain date. Consequently, FNC cut off contract negotiations with Kiran in a royal row, and eager CNN’s Prez Jonathan Klein hired the prized journalist that day within an hour of learning of the “extraordinary circumstances.” (According to NYMag.com, a less impressed FNC had the Nepalese lovely escorted out of the building without her personal effects in her office and hubby FNC weatherman Chris Knowles had to “raid her office” to get them–before being “released from his Fox News contract” the very next day.)
Similarly, Kiran’s former FNC colleague, Aly, has been a shining star in the Fox News constellation, deftly doing double duty as the captain of Fox & Friends Weekend and ably subbing for Gretchen on the F&F “A-Team” at the drop of a hat during even the most momentous moments. When Gretchen renegotiated her contract and received her own show, viewers naturally assumed Aly would finally be coronated as F&F weekday queen. Using the same “wisdom” that inanely snubbed Kiran seven years earlier, Shine chose The View‘s discarded damsel Elisabeth Hasselbeck for the role over fan fave Aly: Shortly thereafter, he sent Aly “out to “pasture” with Bill Hemmer for a short while on America’s Newsroom and replaced her on F&FW with his new hire, Anna Kooiman. Subsequently, with Kiran’s purportedly ill-conceived forced exit in mind, FNC and Aly crafted a happier meme: Aly Tweeted a pic of her in her office with her files (with a sweet note that @lauraingle, @JennRiveraTV, and @rickreichmuth had helped her pack) and another of her in the hallway hugging one of many in a gauntlet of FNC colleagues. To any doubting Thomas, she returned to the building to guest on Kilmeade and Friends, telling her fans, “I left on great terms. I love everybody here: I think the feeling is mutual. And, it’s fun to be back in the building.” But, not for long: On Monday, CNN Worldwide Prez Jeff Zucker announced that he had grabbed the “seasoned journalist with a great curiosity and passion for the news…[that]…has a presence on camera…[that]…is very hard to find.”
Who knows? Maybe, Aly and Kiran fans will be treated to a double espresso of the arousing Aphrodites in the morning. When one Twitter follower Tweeted, “You and @kiranchetrytv should team up again. You two were great,” Aly answered, “That would be a blast.”
Indeed, it would. Vintage Fox & Friends Weekend on CNN? Aly and Kiran: A real “New Day”!
[Author’s aside: It may be no anomaly that Kiran (CNN’s former American Morning co-host) made her return to the CNN morn Sunday on Reliable Sources as a guest journalist in a segment entitled “Women, TV News, and Attractiveness.”]
Tags: alisyn camerota, America's Newsroom, Anna Kooiman, Bill Hemmer, Bill Shine, Chris Knowles, CNN, E. D. Hill, FNC, Fox & Friends, Fox & Friends Weekend, Fox and Friends, Fox and Friends Weekend, Fox News, Gretchen Carlson, Jenn Rivera, Jonathan Stein, Kiran Chetry, Laura Ingle, NYMag.com, Reliable Sources, Rick Reichmuth
Carpe Diem 
July 16, 2014 at 3:27 pm
Fox were fools to let Ali go..
July 16, 2014 at 9:50 pm
FOX made a BIG mistake letting Ali go. Elizabeth Hasselback is ok, but doesn’t measure up to Ali in any way. Ali should be on the curvy couch with Steve and Brian. Will have to tune in to CNN to see Ali.
July 16, 2014 at 9:50 pm
My bet is, she`ll sub on Newday whilst Kate is on maternity leave, then she`ll probably get the job full time and Kate will be moved to another hour.I like Ali but I don`t see her making any difference to CNN`s mediocre ratings, she`d better get used to coming in third place.
July 17, 2014 at 8:36 am
For Alisyn to return to a weekend job would be a stepdown, unless she requested something like that in order to spend more time with family. I think Julie Banderas and Janice Dean do weekends which gives them more family time.
I do agree that Ailes made a mistake letting Alysin go, when he seemed to go out of his way for Gretchen Carlson.
I like Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and she is a welcome addition. Alysin would also do well in that slot. Ainsley Earnhardt seems to have found a home on the early show, and I think Heather Nauert likes being the news reader.
July 24, 2014 at 10:49 am
You didn’t finish the story with how Kiran was dumped for New Day and left CNN. Kiran moved on and has guested on many different shows at The Blaze, Viera TV and other shows. Sure she did a one day stint back at CNN on RS, but she was not re-hired.
January 9, 2015 at 1:58 pm
[…] Real Story, and she lost the coveted job to then FNC outsider, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Soon after this strange snub by FNC SVP of Programming Bill Shine, FTVLive rightly reported that Aly was headed to CNN. When she […]
January 9, 2015 at 2:21 pm
[…] Real Story, and she lost the coveted job to then FNC outsider, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Soon after this strange snub by FNC SVP of Programming Bill Shine, FTVLive rightly reported that Aly was headed to CNN. When she […]
December 31, 2015 at 4:12 pm
Wasn’t Rick Reichmuth in a relationship with Chetry around 2006 ?