Fox News Taps Jeanine Pirro As Permanent Co-Host Of ‘The Five,’ Rotating Regulars To Fill Fifth Seat

Jeanine Pirro has been named a full-time co-host of The Five, joining the panel show’s regulars Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino and Jesse Watters.

Fox News also announced that Harold Ford Jr., Geraldo Rivera and Jessica Tarlov would rotate in the the show’s fifth seat, which the network said is the one designated for the liberal member of the panel following the departure last May by Juan Williams.

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The network said that Pirro will give up her weekend show Justice with Jeanine, which she has been hosting since 2011.

The 5 PM ET show has been a ratings winner for Fox News, ranking No. 2 among total viewers last year among all shows on cable news networks. The Five also topped in the fourth quarter, averaging 3.3 million total viewers.

The network’s selection of Pirro underscores the network’s decision to stick with some of its most controversial personalties on the right. Earlier this week, it announced that Watters would fill the 7 PM ET primetime slot, which for the past year has gone to a rotating series of opinion hosts.

Pirro, a staunch defender of former President Donald Trump, is among the defendants in Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and some of its personalities and guests. The election systems company claims that Pirro and others advanced false claims that the firm was engaged in rigging the 2020 presidential election. Her attorneys have argued that she was engaged in commentary protected by the fair-report and neutral report doctrines, and that coverage of Trump’s claims is protected by the First Amendment.

Pirro has served as a substitute co-host of The Five since 2020. She joined Fox News as a legal analyst in 2006. She will continue to host Castles USA on Fox News Media’s streaming service Fox Nation.

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