Fox & Friends co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck is leaving Fox News in order to spend more time with her family, the network announced on Monday.
Hasselbeck, who joined Fox News in 2013 from ABC's "The View," said she wanted to put her career in television on hold while she raises her three children. She will leave the network at the end of the year.
"Elisabeth and I discussed this at length over several weeks, and while I would love for her to continue here, I respect her incredibly difficult, yet deeply personal decision," Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes said. "She has been a great addition to the Fox & Friends franchise."
Hasselbeck, 38, said she was "confident that this personal decision is the right one for our family," and thanked Ailes for support.
"Throughout my 14 years working in television, I have never experienced a more positive and thoughtful atmosphere than Fox News Channel, thanks to the strong leadership of Roger Ailes, who has created the best working environment a woman and mother could ask for," she said. "His understanding, compassion, and kindness was exemplified when I shared with him that I am entering into a season where I want to start my day with my children first, and he offered his blessing to do so."
In Hasselbeck's absence, Fox & Friends will rely on "a variety of rotating co-hosts" to join Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade.
Hasselbeck spent nearly a decade as a co-host on "The View" before joining Fox News. She and her husband, the retired NFL quarterback Tim Hasselbeck, have listed their home in Greenwich, Connecticut.
