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MPWMost Powerful Women

These Women Are Top Contenders to Replace Megyn Kelly at Fox News

By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
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By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 4, 2017, 2:17 PM ET
The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) - Food & Wine Gala
Photograph by Jared Siskin via Getty Image

Now that Megyn Kelly is officially out at Fox News, the question for the network becomes: Who should replace her?

According to New York Magazine‘s Gabriel Sherman, the Murdochs—who control Fox News parent 21st Century Fox (FOX)—are expected to choose a woman to fill Kelly’s 9 pm time slot.

The top internal contenders, as reported by Sherman, include: Trish Regan, who currently hosts The Intelligence Report with Trish Regan on the Fox Business Network (FBN); Supreme Court reporter and America’s News Headquarters anchor Shannon Bream; FBN reporter and co-host of Outnumbered Sandra Smith; and America’s Newsroom co-anchor Martha MacCallum. All four women have appeared on The Kelly File in the past.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, one of the co-hosts of The Five, is also reportedly “lobbying” for Kelly’s spot.

A Fox News spokesperson tells Fortune that the decision is still “TBD.”

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Kelly isn’t the first prominent female anchor to leave the network. In September, longtime Fox News fixture Greta Van Susteren departed abruptly, citing a clause in her contract that allowed her to do so (relating to chairman Roger Ailes’ ouster). “Fox has not felt like home to me for a few years and I took advantage of the clause in my contract which allows me to leave now,” Van Susteren wrote in a Facebook post at the time.

Though she has left the network, Van Susteren continues to have strong opinions about its future, including the decision about who should replace Kelly (Her vote is apparently for Guilfoyle):

It would be a big plus to Fox evening line up – they need someone like @kimguilfoyle – viewers and colleagues love her https://t.co/eHMXSLeUIb

— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) January 4, 2017

Van Susteren was replaced with Tucker Carlson in November, a move that Sherman says signals Fox’s shift to the right (Carlson is a vocal supporter of President-elect Donald Trump). For that reason, Sherman expects that whoever replaces Kelly will also be pro-Trump.

About the Author
By Valentina Zarya
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