After 22 years of waking up before the rest of the country, Janice Dean is saying goodbye.
On June 25, 2026, the long-time Fox & Friends meteorologist told viewers she is leaving Fox News because her multiple sclerosis has progressed and her doctors agreed it was time to step away.
She shared the news in an emotional video posted to X and Facebook, speaking directly to the people who had been wondering where she had been.
In her announcement on X, Dean thanked viewers for the comments, prayers, and kindness she had received during her absence.
She said goodbyes are hard and signed off with the familiar warmth viewers know from her years on morning television.
The video attached to that message gave the harder explanation: MS had progressed, the strain of the job had become heavier, and the decision had moved from a temporary break to a real farewell.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Dean described the daily demands of the job in plain terms, including the early wake-ups, extended time on her feet, and live-broadcast pressure that come with morning television.
The 2:30 a.m. wake-ups had all started to wear on her, especially as she managed a disease where fatigue and stress can hit hard.
Fox & Friends is an early-morning, high-energy broadcast job that asks the same person to be sharp before sunrise, day after day. That schedule explains why this became a health decision instead of a simple TV lineup change.
Lack of sleep and stress are two of the biggest triggers for her condition, and Dean said she had been feeling her limitations more and more.
Her doctors agreed that stepping away was necessary for her health. She called it her “mostly sunny goodbye,” a fitting line from a forecaster who built her brand on optimism.
People filled in the broader picture of just how long Dean has carried this while staying visible to Fox viewers who watched her every morning.
Dean is 56 and has worked at Fox News since 2004. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005, just a year into her run, and has been on therapies for more than two decades while continuing to appear on television.
The report also noted how open Dean has been about the disease and about resilience, including through her 2019 memoir Mostly Sunny and her public advocacy for people facing chronic illness.
People framed the announcement as a necessary decision after years of trying to manage the condition while staying visible for viewers.
That is a major part of why the farewell landed the way it did: Dean was leaving a TV chair and closing a chapter that many viewers watched her fight through in public.
Through all of it, she stayed on the air and turned her own fight into encouragement for viewers facing the same disease.
The affection from her colleagues poured in fast.
You are so loved, Janice. And missed here every day. I’ll never forget when we shared a closet as an office in our early days at Fox. You are such an inspiration to all of us. An example of courage and grace and always Mostly Sunny. God Bless you, our dear friend! Xo https://t.co/8KtmO0qVHE
— Martha MacCallum (@marthamaccallum) June 25, 2026
The New York Post carried Fox News Media’s statement on Dean’s departure and added outside medical context about the day-to-day reality of multiple sclerosis for working adults.
The network praised her warmth, resilience, and dedication, and said her willingness to share her personal journey had touched countless lives across her 22-year run.
Fox said it fully supports Dean’s decision to step away from her senior meteorologist role on Fox & Friends and is grateful for her many contributions to the network and its viewers.
The Post also included medical context from Dr. Saud Sadiq, who explained that MS can affect fatigue, mobility, cognition, vision, and speech in different ways depending on the person and disease course.
He cautioned against assuming what someone with MS can or cannot do based only on the diagnosis, which makes Dean’s own account of her limits the key fact here.
The Post also noted Dean’s November 2025 health-related break, which explains the absence so many viewers had noticed before this final goodbye.
For background, the Fox News bio lays out the full arc of her career from radio and local television to one of the most recognizable weather roles on cable news.
Dean joined the channel in January 2004, rose to senior meteorologist, and became the morning meteorologist for Fox & Friends, the network’s weekday morning show.
She also contributed to Fox Weather, covered major U.S. weather events, and wrote books built around weather, hope, and resilience for both children and adults.
The bio notes that she covered major storms across the country, including hurricanes, and that her children’s weather books were built around teaching kids how weather works while pointing them toward service and disaster relief.
Before Fox, she worked in radio and local television, including in New York, Houston, and Canada, which makes this farewell the end of a much longer broadcast path than viewers may realize.
The bio shows why this announcement hits regular viewers hard: Dean was not a short-term TV face, she was part of the morning routine for more than two decades.
The goodwill was not limited to her own program.
This is such sad news. JD – you have been a part of our Fox family for as long as I can remember.
You will be missed more than you can ever know….
Praying for your health and wishing you much love…
J https://t.co/rur8R6udoN— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) June 25, 2026
Twenty-two years is a long time to show up for an audience before sunrise, and longer still while quietly managing a disease that never takes a day off.
Janice Dean did both, and she did it with a smile that earned her the nickname she leaves on. We wish her health, rest, and plenty of sunshine ahead.
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