“Fox & Friends” Steve Doocy will step back from full-time co-hosting duties and permanently decamp to Florida where he will remotely join colleagues Brian Kilmeade, Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence Jones three times a week beginning later this month.
Doocy fought back tears on Thursday morning as he announced that it was his last day he would be alongside his co-hosts from their Midtown Manhattan studios.
“After decades of getting up at 3:30 and driving into NYC in the dark, today is the last day I will host the show…from the couch,” Doocy told viewers on Thursday’s broadcast. “I am not retiring, I’m not leaving the show. I’m still a host — but it’s time for a change.”
Doocy, who turns 70 next year, will now serve as “Fox & Friends’” full-time remote host, covering on-the-ground features like the show’s popular diner segments.
Recent examples include his live dispatch from Chicken N Pickle, a suburban Kansas City pickleball venue.
He will report from across the country while Kilmeade, Earhardt and Jones continue to host from the New York studio.
Doocy said he counted more than 6,800 pre-dawn wake-ups and over 31,000 hours of live television from the show’s iconic “curvy couch.”
He said he was relieved to be taking on a new role that allows him to trade sleepless mornings for time with his family — and a more flexible schedule.
“Do you remember the eighties Dunkin’ Donuts commercial where the alarm clock goes off at 3:30? ‘It’s time to make the donuts,’” Doocy said Thursday morning on-air.
“For the last 30 years when my alarm clock goes off—at 3:30—if it wakes up my wife Kathy, she always says, ‘It’s time to make the donuts.’ And I say, you’re right, ‘It’s time to make the donuts,’ and I get up and go to work.”
According to Doocy, artificial intelligence helped calculate just how often that alarm has sounded — 6,828 times.
“That, ladies and gentlemen, is a lot of donuts,” he quipped. “It’s a great job… but the hours suck.”
Effective immediately, Doocy will contribute remotely three days a week as the show’s new “coast-to-coast host,” broadcasting from Florida and beyond.
The move came after discussions with Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, whom Doocy called “a friend for over 30 years.”
“She gave me a great option — to keep working on this show… just not every day,” Doocy explained.
“Essentially it’s the Johnny Carson deal. Remember Johnny worked his three days in Burbank, and I’ll be based in Florida. Which means you may never see me in a necktie again.”
Florida’s strategic location will allow Doocy to file stories from often-overlooked corners of the country.
“I’ll be going from the Carolinas to the Keys. From Middle America to Mar-a-Lago,” he said. “Call me the coast-to-coast host.”
The shift also marks a personal milestone for Doocy, who acknowledged the toll morning TV has taken on family life.
“When my kids were growing up, I never had breakfast with them. I was here. Kathy did everything,” he said.
“But starting tomorrow, I’m going to have breakfast with my grandkids and my children whenever I can.”
This new chapter starts with a visit to Washington, DC, to meet his newborn grandson, George, followed by a trip to Dallas to visit daughter Sally, her husband Ali, and their growing family.
“They needed more space… because Sally’s having a boy in July,” Doocy noted with pride.
Doocy assured viewers he’s not retiring: “I will continue to join this couch crew for commentary. You have trusted me for all these years and don’t worry, you will still hear my voice and my opinions loud and clear—despite whatever seasonal pollen is killing me.”
He offered heartfelt thanks to colleagues behind the scenes — from security and the café crew to the makeup team and studio producers –and gave a special nod to executive producer Megan Albano for helping accommodate his new schedule.
Though stepping back from daily hosting duties, Doocy promised he won’t be a stranger.
“As for the cast on the couch — who I love and adore — if this was the last day I’d ever work with you again, the waterworks would be flowing, you know me. But after a little vacation, I’ll be back on the show, via the magic of television.”
“I’m transitioning from ‘It’s time to make the donuts’ to ‘It’s time to make the breakfast, Grandpa,’” he said.
“Now step on it.”
