A wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day in the lives of the bride and groom. Jessica Tarlov, it was a day her heart broke. The Fox News host opened up about the sad circumstances surrounding her wedding. Keep reading for all the details.
Jessica Tarlov Opens Up About Heartbreak On Wedding
Jessica Tarlov worked as a political strategist before joining Fox News. She worked at the network as a contributor for years before she was promoted to co-host of The Five. The anchor, who leans liberal, is a strange fit on the conservative network. She often gets into arguments with her co-hosts but also gives them a perspective they may not have considered.
Her promotion up the ranks at Fox News came amid heartbreak in her personal life. She tied the knot with Brian McKenna in 2021, just months after they got engaged. But the wedding was bittersweet. “It was the day I found out that my dad was going to die very soon,” she wrote in her upcoming book. The excerpt was published by PEOPLE magazine.
Her beloved father had been battling tongue cancer since 2007. His health took a turn for the worse right as she was planning her wedding. Jessica Tarlov was also pregnant with her first child during that time. She wrote in her book that she originally planned an intimate courthouse wedding. But when she found out that her father was near death, she changed plans.
“Once my dad told me that he’d like to see us get married, plans changed and we decided to hold the ceremony in a park just in front of my parents’ apartment with beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty,” Jessica Tarlov revealed about the nuptials.
But her dad was hospitalized on her wedding day and she wasn’t sure he would make it. Luckily, he was able to rally enough strength to watch his daughter marry. He died shortly after the wedding.
Fox News Host Recalls Breaking Down In Tears Live On Air
Like many people, Jessica Tarlov had a tough time returning to work. Her book candidly discusses the time she broke down live on the air and the surprising reaction she got.
“After he died, I remember talking on the air about a charity event that Jon Stewart and Pete Davidson were hosting to raise money for 9/11 first responders. I started to talk about my dad when I found myself choking up and started to cry,” the Fox News host recalled. “Will Cain, who was sitting to my left that day filling in for Jesse, put his hand on my shoulder in a sweet moment.
She received a lot of support from the audience for showing her real and vulnerable emotions after her father’s death. Read more about her life and career in her upcoming book, I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends, due out on Tuesday, Sept. 15
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger