Fox News has named Emily Compagno the permanent new cohost of "The Five," ending a 15-month rotation of fill-ins after Jeanine Pirro left the top-rated cable news show to serve as a federal prosecutor.
The network announced Monday that Compagno, 46, will join Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, and Jesse Watters at the table beginning Sept. 8. She leaves behind her cohosting role on "Outnumbered," a seat she held since 2021. Fox News said a rotating group of network personalities will fill her "Outnumbered" chair until a permanent replacement is named.
Pirro's seat opened in May 2025, when President Donald Trump named her U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Since then, a revolving door of guest cohosts, Compagno among them, kept the chair warm on cable news' highest-rated program. The announcement makes official what viewers had already begun to suspect: Compagno earned the job by doing it.
"The Five" is not a show that needed rescuing. It averaged 3.6 million total viewers during the second quarter of 2026 and pulled 322,000 in the key adults 25, 54 demographic. The program has held the title of cable news' most-watched show for 19 consecutive quarters, a streak that spans nearly five years. It celebrated its 15th anniversary last month.
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott framed the move as a reward for performance. The New York Post reported Scott's statement praising Compagno's contribution across the network:
"Emily is a highly accomplished host whose energy and talent have made her a standout across Fox News Media, and we are thrilled to officially welcome her to the show."
Compagno herself struck a grateful tone. USA Today reported her statement:
"I couldn't be more honored to join 'The Five,' a team I have long admired and have been fortunate to work alongside over the years."
She posted the Fox announcement on Instagram set to the "Flashdance" theme song "What a Feeling" and called joining the show an "incredible privilege."
Compagno's path to the permanent seat did not follow the usual media track. Before joining Fox News as a contributor in 2018, she worked as an attorney and cheered for the NFL's Oakland Raiders. She moved into the "Outnumbered" cohost chair in 2021 and published *Under His Wings: How Faith on the Front Lines Has Protected American Troops*, which became a New York Times bestseller in 2024.
Harold Ford Jr. and Jessica Tarlov will continue rotating in the show's liberal seat, a format "The Five" has maintained to give its roundtable a point-counterpoint structure.
Pirro's departure from "The Five" was itself a significant moment. President Trump tapped her as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in May 2025, pulling one of Fox News' most recognizable personalities into a high-profile law enforcement role in the nation's capital.
Her tenure has generated headlines of its own. A Long Island man was arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot the U.S. attorney, a reminder that the job carries risks beyond political pressure.
Pirro has also drawn attention for her prosecutorial decisions. Attorney General Blanche publicly backed Pirro on the Reflecting Pool case even as the president expressed frustration over dropped charges, an unusual public split within the administration.
And Pirro herself announced federal charges against a Kentucky woman accused of spray-painting the World War II Memorial, a case that drew national outrage. That announcement underscored the kind of high-profile enforcement actions she has pursued since leaving television.
Fox News ran the rotating-cohost experiment for more than a year. That is a long audition by cable news standards, where lineup decisions can make or break a time slot. The network's willingness to take its time suggests confidence in the franchise, and confidence that Compagno, after months of proving herself in the chair, was the right pick rather than the fast one.
The open question now shifts to "Outnumbered." Fox has not named a permanent replacement there, and the same rotating-fill-in model that preceded Compagno's promotion will begin again on a different show. Whether that search takes another 15 months remains to be seen.
In cable news, ratings settle most arguments. Compagno steps into a seat on a show that has dominated its competition for nearly five years straight. The job now is simple: keep winning.