Juan Williams Bows Out of Fox News's 'The Five'

Juan Williams, Fox News political analyst, Co-host of Fox News Channel's The Five
(Image credit: Fox News)

Juan Williams announced on Fox News's The Five Wednesday that it would be his last day co-hosting the popular show.

Fox said The Five will be returning to the Fox headquarters in New York City June 1 and will feature "rotating liberal co-hosts until a liberal replacement for Juan is named."

Williams, who has been the resident Democrat on the panel, said he would continue to be a political analyst for Fox, working out of D.C. The Five is based in New York.

He pointed out he had been co-hosting for almost seven years.

The show ended with a montage of moments from those seven years, including Williams' proud family portraits and one show when he suggested he wanted to hug Greg Gutfeld, which would require bridging a sizable political divide.

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Co-host Dana Perino said it had been an honor and pleasure to work with Williams and that he would be missed, a sentiment shared by the rest of the panel, including Jesse Waters, with whom Williams arguably most vociferously disagreed on most issues.

Williams, who is a 2021 CultureX Award recipient, first joined Fox News in 1997 as a contributor.

"We are incredibly grateful for his commitment to the show and its success over the last several years," said Megan Albano, VP for The Five and weekend programming. "As we started planning The Five’s return to its New York City studio at our headquarters a few months ago, Juan decided to stay in Washington, D.C. permanently. We accommodated his request, understanding and appreciating his desire to remain closer to his family and recognizing that a remote co-hosting role on a roundtable in-studio program was not a long-term option. While we will miss his insightful contributions each night and look forward to welcoming him on set whenever he’s in New York, we are pleased to have him continue his longtime role as a senior political analyst with Fox News Media.”

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.