Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov Gets Candid About Cohosts After Signing New 3-Year Contract

Jessica Tarlov might be up against it as the lone liberal voice on Fox News’ The Five, but that didn’t deter her from signing a new three-year contract with the right-leaning network.

The Democratic Party strategist opened up about her new deal in a recent interview with Marie Claire, along with her thoughts on her fellow cohosts. “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 Democrat on The Five, moderated by Jesse Watters and featuring regular panelists Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, and now Emily Compagno, who recently took over from Jeanine Pirro.

Episodes often get heated, with Tarlov having to fend off multiple arguments at once from her conservative cohosts. She said she usually gets about 90 seconds to respond, so she has to be precise. Sometimes she’ll open with a quip, like telling Watters he could be a better White House spokesperson than the actual press secretary.

Tarlov called this tactic her “olive branch,” a compliment disguised as a dig that might soften things so she can get her points across without being interrupted. “If I’m going to get 90 seconds, I want to make the most of it,” she stated.

Despite how contentious the show often gets, Tarlov described her fellow panelists as friends, and not just the women but the men too. “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.”

Those friendships extend beyond the workplace. Tarlov revealed how she and Gutfeld regularly text throughout the week, and she’s even been to his apartment and his daughter’s first birthday party. She also texts with Watters’ wife, Emma DiGiovine, and recently went out for dinner and a Broadway play with Perino and Compagno.

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As for how she can maintain those friendships despite such differing politics, Tarlov explained, “‘[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 that over time, she’s realized that some of her cohosts, “in particular Jesse and Greg, don’t think that politics is the most important thing in the world.”

Tarlov also opened up about how she cries a lot, especially when reflecting on her father, who died from a 9/11-related cancer when she was pregnant with her first child, Cleo. She said that she once cried about him on air and her cohosts took it easy on her that day.

“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.”