Picture this: you tune into Fox & Friends First one morning and Carley Shimkus isn’t there. A week passes. Then another. You search her name online and a headline pops up saying she “officially stepped back.” So you click, and suddenly you’re convinced she’s gone for good.
This pattern has played out repeatedly over the past few years. But here’s the straightforward answer: Carley Shimkus has not left Fox News. The rumors have a clear origin, and once you understand it, the whole story makes a lot more sense.
This article covers her current status at Fox News, where the leaving rumors actually came from, what her maternity leave and second pregnancy mean for her career, and how misleading online content keeps the speculation alive.
Carley Shimkus Has Not Left Fox News
Let’s get this out of the way first. As of the most recent credible reporting, Shimkus remains a co-host of Fox & Friends First. Neither she nor Fox News has issued any statement about a resignation, contract dispute, or planned departure.
If anything, the evidence points firmly in the opposite direction. In March 2026, Shimkus announced live on air that she is pregnant with her second child—a boy due at the end of July. She told viewers she was about 22 weeks along and feeling great.
That is not the move of someone preparing to walk away from a network. Announcing a pregnancy on air is a signal of continuity, not exit. According to a Tuko explainer that looked specifically at these rumors, there is no evidence of an imminent departure, and no official statement from Shimkus or Fox News supports the claim that she is leaving.
Where the “Leaving Fox News” Rumors Actually Started
The rumors trace back mainly to one event: her maternity leave in 2023 after giving birth to her son, Edward Brock. She was away from the show for roughly four months. For regular viewers, that’s a long time to go without seeing a familiar face.
When viewers noticed her absence and went looking for answers, they didn’t always find accurate ones. A Facebook post from a non-official viral news page claimed she had “officially announced she is stepping back from Fox News.” There was no link to any Fox statement or credible outlet. It was just a post on a generic page—but it spread.
YouTube videos with titles like “Why She Left Fox News” made things worse. Several of these videos dramatize Shimkus’s own reflections on new motherhood—the exhaustion, the steep learning curve, the brutal 1:15 a.m. alarm that comes with an early-morning show—and frame a temporary leave as a permanent exit. None of these videos represent an official announcement from Shimkus or Fox News.
This is how misinformation about media personalities tends to spread. One vague post, a few sensational video titles, and suddenly a rumor takes on a life of its own.
What Her Maternity Leave Actually Looked Like
Shimkus took about four months off after Edward Brock was born. She then returned to Fox & Friends First as co-host. That’s the full story of her 2023 absence.
After coming back, she publicly thanked Fox News for its support during her leave. That’s an important detail. It directly contradicts any narrative involving tension or conflict with the network. You don’t express public gratitude to a company you’re feuding with or planning to leave.
Think of it this way: if a marketing director at a large company took four months of approved parental leave and then returned to the same role, no one would report it as a departure. The same logic applies here. The main difference is that TV personalities are publicly visible. When they disappear from screens, viewers notice immediately—and in the absence of clear information, people tend to assume the worst.
The confusion is understandable. But it isn’t evidence of anything beyond a normal, routine maternity leave.
Her Career at Fox News and How She Got to Fox & Friends First
To understand why the leaving rumors don’t hold up, it also helps to look at how much of a career investment Shimkus has made at Fox—and Fox has made in her.
She didn’t start as a co-host. Shimkus joined Fox News as a production assistant and worked her way up through the organization over several years. Along the way, she reported for Fox News Headlines 24/7, served as a substitute anchor across multiple Fox properties, and co-hosted content for Fox Nation’s streaming service.
In 2021, Fox News named her permanent co-host of Fox & Friends First alongside Todd Piro. She stepped into the role vacated by Jillian Mele. That promotion came after years of consistent work at the network—it wasn’t handed to her quickly.
The Jillian Mele comparison is worth noting here because it illustrates what an actual departure from Fox looks like. When Mele decided to leave, Fox issued a clear public announcement. Trade outlets like Adweek, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter covered it directly. Mele left to pursue an MBA at La Salle University in Philadelphia, and that fact was publicly stated.
That is what confirmed news of a Fox talent exit looks like. There’s an official statement. Trade publications run the story. The host says goodbye on air. None of that has happened with Shimkus. What’s circulating instead is an anonymous Facebook post and a handful of YouTube thumbnails designed to get clicks.
Her Second Pregnancy and What It Means for Her Schedule
With a second child due at the end of July 2026, Shimkus will almost certainly take another maternity leave later this year. That’s a reasonable expectation.
When that happens, some viewers will again notice her absence. Some corners of the internet will again speculate that she’s stepping away permanently. The same pattern is likely to repeat.
But based on everything we know from her first maternity leave—her public gratitude toward Fox, her return to the same role, her continued on-air presence—there’s no reason to treat a second leave as evidence of a career exit. It will be what it was before: a parent taking time off to be with a newborn, with plans to return.
Fox & Friends First runs at an hour that requires Shimkus to set an alarm around 1:15 a.m. She has spoken openly about how demanding that schedule is, especially with a young child. Those conversations are honest reflections on the difficulty of her job—not hints about quitting.
Media careers and family life create real tensions, and people in high-profile roles talk about those tensions publicly. That candor shouldn’t be read as a resignation letter.
How Misleading Online Content Keeps These Rumors Going
There’s a broader pattern worth understanding here, especially for anyone who follows media business closely. Viral social posts and algorithm-driven video titles don’t need to be accurate to spread. They just need to provoke a question.
“Why did Carley Shimkus leave Fox News?” is a more clickable question than “Carley Shimkus is still on Fox News.” So content designed around the former spreads further, even when the premise is false.
By the time a reader finds a factual explainer, they may have already seen two or three posts reinforcing the rumor. That’s how a normal maternity leave becomes a “stepping back announcement” in online spaces.
If you’re in the habit of consuming media business news—or business news more broadly—Nextbiztips is a resource worth bookmarking for context that goes beyond the headlines.
The rule of thumb when a rumor like this surfaces: look for an official statement. Check whether credible trade outlets have covered it. If neither Fox News nor the personality themselves has said anything, treat the claim with skepticism until something verifiable appears.
The Bottom Line
Carley Shimkus has not left Fox News. She remains co-host of Fox & Friends First, is pregnant with her second child, and has given no indication of a planned departure from the network.
The rumors began during her 2023 maternity leave, were amplified by misleading social posts and clickbait video titles, and have continued to recirculate because absences create information gaps that speculation is quick to fill.
Her career trajectory at Fox—from production assistant to named co-host—and her public expressions of gratitude toward the network tell a different story than the one circulating online. When a Fox News anchor actually leaves, it looks like Jillian Mele’s exit: clear, public, and covered by trade publications. What’s happening with Shimkus looks nothing like that.
If you find yourself searching her name again in a few months when she’s on maternity leave for the second time, now you’ll know what you’re looking at.
Read Also:
