Fox News is promoting Emily Compagno to a permanent co-host role on "The Five," cable news's highest-rated program for nearly five straight years, a move that reshapes the network's flagship panel starting September 8.
Compagno, who has co-hosted "Outnumbered" since 2021, will join Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, and Jesse Watters at the table on the 5 p.m. roundtable show, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott announced Monday. Harold Ford Jr. and Jessica Tarlov will continue rotating through the program's liberal seat, the New York Post reported.
The addition locks in a fourth conservative-leaning voice on a show that has averaged 3.6 million viewers per episode in the second quarter of this year, numbers Fox says have kept "The Five" atop the cable news ratings for 19 consecutive quarters.
Scott praised Compagno in a statement announcing the move.
"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."
The CEO's description of Compagno as "highly accomplished" is not corporate boilerplate. Before she ever appeared on camera, Compagno practiced criminal defense and civil litigation. She served as a federal managing attorney and acting director at the Social Security Administration. She worked as a senior judge judicial extern for the late Judge John T. Noonan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, one of the most influential appellate courts in the country. She held legal positions in South Africa and Brazil.
Compagno holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Washington and a law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law.
She joined Fox News as a contributor in 2018 and moved into the co-host chair on "Outnumbered" three years later. Her book, Under His Wings, published by Fox News Books, debuted at No. 1 on both Amazon and the New York Times bestseller list in its first week of release.
Compagno's path to "The Five" runs through territory few media figures have covered. She captained the Oakland Raiders' cheerleading squad. The NFL later selected her as an ambassador, a role that took her overseas to represent the league internationally and to Iraq and Kuwait on a USO tour visiting American troops.
That combination, courtroom attorney, federal bureaucrat, NFL ambassador, USO volunteer, bestselling author, gives Compagno a biography built on institutions conservatives tend to respect: the military, the legal system, and competitive athletics. It is a profile that fits a show whose audience skews toward viewers who value exactly those credentials.
Compagno signaled she understood the weight of the assignment.
"Having an official seat at the table on what I truly believe is the most fun show on television is an incredible privilege. I am grateful for the opportunity and can't wait to get started."
Compagno's departure from "Outnumbered" leaves a hole in Fox's daytime lineup. The network said a rotating personality will fill her seat until a permanent replacement is named. Fox has not disclosed a timeline for that decision or identified candidates publicly.
"The Five" itself marked its 15th anniversary in July. In the key advertising demographic of viewers aged 25 to 54, the show averaged 322,000 viewers in the most recent second quarter, figures Fox attributes to its own data. The program has held the top spot in cable news ratings for 19 straight quarters, a run that spans nearly five years and covers some of the most competitive periods in cable news history.
Adding Compagno to a roster that already includes Gutfeld, Perino, and Watters signals that Fox sees no reason to tinker with a winning formula. The network is reinforcing its strongest asset with a host who brings legal depth, on-air experience, and a record that extends well beyond the studio.
In an era when cable news audiences are shrinking almost everywhere else, Fox is doubling down on the show that keeps drawing them in, and betting that Compagno is the right voice to keep the streak alive.
