Carley Shimkus Will Replace Jillian Mele on ‘Fox & Friends First’

Carley Shimkus will take up the co-anchor seat on “Fox & Friends First” opposite Todd Piro after Jillian Mele announced Friday that she was leaving the early-morning program.

Shimkus has been a reporter for Fox News Headlines, a co-host on the Fox Nation streaming service and a substitute host on Fox News Channel. She joined Fox Business Network in 2009 as a production assistant and was later promoted to associate producer. She is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. “The ‘Fox & Friends’ franchise has been the leader in morning television for nearly 20 years and I feel fortunate to be a part of this incredible team,” Shimkus said in a statement.

“Fox & Friends First” airs weekday mornings between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., and typically represents the first original hours of the Fox News Channel schedule each morning. Fox News expanded the program in 2017, starting it at 4 a.m. rather than 5 a.m., its original start time.

Mele said she was leaving to focus on an MBA program at La Salle University in Philadelphia. She joined Fox News from Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia in March 2017.

Shimkus will make her debut on Monday, November 1. “Carley brings great experience to this role developed over nearly a decade at Fox News Media and we are excited to have her join “Fox  & Friends First,'” said Gavin Hadden. Fox News Channel’s vice president of morning programming, in a prepared statement. “We wish Jillian all the best as she returns home to Philadelphia and thank her for her outstanding contribution and dedication to the ‘Fox & Friends’ franchise.”