Jessica Tarlov is sticking around at Fox News.
The liberal co-host of “The Five” has signed a new three-year contract with the network, locking in her seat at the table even as she regularly clashes with the show’s conservative heavyweights.
Tarlov, a Democratic Party strategist, opened up about the deal in a recent interview with Marie Claire, describing the contract as validation that Fox still sees value in having her voice on one of its most-watched programs.
“It’s always a great affirmation of your seat at the table,” Tarlov said of the new deal. “No matter how contentious it looks or difficult or terrible to some people, that you’re a valued element in this discourse.”
Tarlov serves as the lone liberal regular on “The Five,” where she frequently goes head-to-head with Jesse Watters, Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino and newly added permanent co-host Emily Compagno.
Those debates can get heated fast, with Tarlov often outnumbered as she tries to make her case against a panel packed with conservatives.
She said she typically gets about 90 seconds to make her point, meaning there is little room to waste time.
Tarlov said she sometimes starts with a joke or backhanded compliment to lower the temperature before making her argument.
She described the tactic as her “olive branch.”
“If I’m going to get 90 seconds, I want to make the most of it,” she stated.
Despite the combative television exchanges, Tarlov said the relationships behind the scenes are far less hostile than viewers might assume.
“Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld actually care about me as a person,” she revealed. “And that doesn’t make them soften their political opinions, even though I think that they should in some cases, especially when they’re enormously wrong.”
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Tarlov said those friendships continue after the cameras stop rolling.
She and Greg Gutfeld regularly text throughout the week, and she has visited his apartment and attended his daughter’s first birthday party.
She also communicates with Watters’ wife, Emma DiGiovine, and recently joined Perino and Compagno for dinner and a Broadway show.
Tarlov said maintaining those friendships requires separating the person from the politics.
“‘[It’s about] fundamentally understanding them as people and how they think about politics,” as opposed to seeing them as “a set of political opinions.”
She said she has also come to understand that some of her conservative colleagues, particularly Watters and Gutfeld, do not treat politics as the center of their entire lives.
The Fox personality also discussed a much more personal side of her time on the program, revealing that she frequently becomes emotional when thinking about her late father.
Her father died from a cancer linked to 9/11 while Tarlov was pregnant with her first child, Cleo.
Tarlov recalled breaking down over him on the air and said her co-hosts eased up on her during that episode.
“There was great relief and also discomfort,” she said, “because I had gotten to the point where it had to be addressed almost, when you’re walking around with something that’s so bottled up. …No one wants anyone to be looking at them while they’re crying. I’m also a very ugly crier, so I didn’t want that to be going on for too long.”
Her new contract makes clear that Fox News intends to keep its ideological sparring partner in place as “The Five” continues with its revamped lineup.
Compagno recently became a permanent member of the panel following Jeanine Pirro‘s departure, adding another conservative voice opposite Tarlov.
For Tarlov, however, the disagreements appear to be part of the job rather than a reason to leave it.
After years of tense exchanges, interruptions and political battles on live television, Fox News has now given her another three years to keep stepping into the fight.
