Jacqui

Fox News is launching a new Sunday program with its senior White House correspondents Peter Doocy and Jacqui Heinrich, the network announced Wednesday.

The new Washington-based program called “The Sunday Briefing” will replace “MediaBuzz,” the long-running media criticism show hosted by Howie Kurtz that airs at 11 a.m. Eastern.

Heinrich and Doocy will rotate as solo hosts of the “The Sunday Briefing.” Both have covered the White House for Fox News since 2021.

In a statement, Fox News said the new program, which debuts Sept. 21, “will tackle all facets of the White House beat, including the President of the United States’ national and international moves as well as the key issues impacting the administration.”

The son of “Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy, Peter Doocy, 38, gained notoriety for his combative questions in the White House briefing room during the Biden administration.

Fox News senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy.

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Heinrich, 36, is a highly respected Washington correspondent known for straight reporting on the conservative-leaning network. Her fact-driven approach has occasionally annoyed the Trump administration and opinion hosts at the network who ardently support the president.

Kurtz has anchored “MediaBuzz” since 2013. He will remain at the network as a political media analyst and continue to host a podcast. His final TV program is Sunday.

Kurtz came to Fox from CNN, where he was the original host of “Reliable Sources.” The media criticism program was canceled in 2022 when it was hosted by Brian Stelter.

Fox News is also adding a new weekend program with former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “Saturday in America with Kayleigh McEnany” will air for two hours at 10 a.m. Eastern.

McEnany joined Fox News in March 2021 as a commentator and was later named as a co-host on the daily daytime talk show “Outnumbered.” She will continue in that role.

Fox News also named Griff Jenkins as the new co-host of the weekend edition of “Fox & Friends.” The program has used rotating co-hosts since Pete Hegseth departed to join the Trump administration as Secretary of Defense.

Jenkins, a Fox News correspondent since 2003, will sit alongside current “Fox & Friends Weekend” co-hosts Rachel Campos-Duffy and Charlie Hurt.

Fox News also named conservative commentator Tomi Lahren and Iraq war veteran Johnny Jones as permanent co-hosts for its weekend panel program “The Big Weekend Show.”

Jacqui Heinrich, senior White House correspondent for Fox News, just vetted the story of her own engagement to U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick on Tuesday. The verdict? It ain’t fake news.

The Pennsylvania Republican asked Heinrich for her hand in marriage in a lavender field in Provence, France, according to People. Promoting that story, the journalist wrote on X, “Fact check: true.” Then she tacked on a couple of appropriately lovey emojis.

“The cooking was the dealmaker. Congrats Jacqui!” Fox News contributor Joe Concha said in comments. Chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst chimed in with, “Love this news,” while Jessica Tarlov, who speaks for Democrats on “The Five,” wrote, “Ahhhhhh congratulations!!!”

Fitzpatrick popped the question on June 29, People reported, before he had to hustle back to vote on the just-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. His inspiration came from something Heinrich told the Boston Globe last summer, ahead of the 2024 election: “I’ve always dreamed of eating my way through the French Riviera and Provence, with sun-drenched days at the lavender fields punctuated by crisp wines and salty butter.”

So Fitzpatrick, 51, booked a summer trip to France as a birthday gift for Heinrich, who turns 37 in November. But the journalist was concerned, she told the celebrity outlet, that her beau would have to cut the trip short to vote against Trump’s bill, which the president signed into law on July 4. Did Fitzpatrick want to postpone the trip, she wondered?

“He was like, ‘We are going. We’re going to the lavender fields. All I want is to see the lavender fields at sunrise,’” she told People. “All the time I’ve known this man, he has never been desperate to see a field of flowers at dawn. So I had a feeling that [a proposal] was the goal.”

What was supposed to be a 10-day trip was whittled down to only a couple of days.

After arriving in Nice, France, they drove two hours in darkness to catch the sunrise in the town of Valensole, known for its lavender and truffles. The town is built into a hill overlooking a small river valley, and a lavender festival is held there annually on the third Sunday in July. But the OBBBA waited for no sweet-smelling shrub, so attending the festival was definitely out.

Fitzpatrick had an agenda. He stopped at one particular lavender field and suggested Heinrich go for a stroll while he took some photos of her, she told People. As she took in the view, a photographer and a drone appeared, she said, and Fitzpatrick was asking her to marry him and presenting a ring he had procured from her family’s longtime jeweler.

The photos, as seen on the outlet’s website, are lovely. Heinrich, who has been dating Fitzpatrick since the 2021 Kennedy Center Honors, said yes.

“I love his brain,” Heinrich told People of her fiance, a five-term congressman who was previously an FBI special agent and federal prosecutor. Fitzpatrick was also embedded with U.S. Special Forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to his biography.

“I love the way he approaches problem-solving and solving complex issues. He’s strong and a man of faith, who brings me closer to God.,” Heinrich said. “He’s sweet and gentle and kind — all of the easy qualities in a person that just make him a joy to be around and life brighter.”

There’s also a handy little bonus in this pairing, as revealed on the congressman’s website: Should Heinrich find herself in need of an attorney, a certified public accountant or an emergency medical technician, she’s definitely covered, because Fitzpatrick is licensed as all three.

Rita Simons has joined the cast of Hollyoaks in an explosive new role. But upon her arrival, Alex Fletcher admits she was awestruck by her co-star – and even a little jealous.

Alex Fletcher admits that Rita Simons’ arrival in Hollyoaks left her feeling envious – but she can’t wait to film more scenes with the former EastEnders star.

Diane Hutchinson has had the sort of 12 months you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. She’s faced divorce, relapsed into alcoholism, learned that her teenager Ro wishes to transition and dated a bent copper who turned out to be running a child exploitation ring on the side.

So it’s no wonder Hollyoaks actress Alex Fletcher has blocked it all out. “She’s had a traumatic year,” laughs Alex, who is celebrating her 15th year on the soap.

“I genuinely put it to bed as soon as I walk out of the studio because it would send me under. I just try and bury it. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

This week sees Diane and Tony (Nick Pickard) grow closer after the stress of Ro’s court case dissipates. However, Marie (Rita Simons) is not giving up on her future with Tony without putting up a fight.

“Diane and Tony and the family have kind of pulled together as a unit again, which is a bit of a feather in Diane’s cap because she still loves him to bits,” explains Alex. “Her loyalties and her heart lie with Tony and it would be nice to work with Nick again because I’ve hardly seen him.”

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Fans will enjoy scenes where both Marie and Diane turn up in the same dress to celebrate after Ro avoids being sent to a juvenile detention centre. “That brings the family closer together again, so they celebrate and Marie and Diane turn up in the same dress,” laughs Alex.

“And Diane is like, ‘Well, I ain’t going home and getting changed love, you can go home!’ All the dynamics and blended families have been so good to explore. I think there’s going to be a lot more of that.”

Not only is Alex looking forward to being reunited with work husband Nick, she also wants more scenes with EastEnders icon Rita. “She’s brilliant,” says Alex, 48.

“Not going to lie, I was a bit jealous of her when she started. She’s so good, it’s nice to just be working in and around women of our age. Strong women. It’s fabulous.”

However, there is fresh trouble brewing for Diane: Clare Devine, played by Gemma Bissix, is coming for her. Unknown to Diane, Clare was married to DI Alistair Banks, the corrupt copper Diane had a fling with. Now he’s dead, Clare believes Diane is sitting on cash that belongs to her.

“Diane’s seemingly in a good place, though I don’t think she’s realised the backlash from DI Banks,” explains Alex. “Diane should be fearing for her life. And then, obviously, she’s also being accused of having all this cash that’s gone missing…”

Clare has been away from Hollyoaks for 12 years, but Alex is thrilled to have her back. “She’s just a great girl,” she says. “She’s a good energy – she really cares about the show and she 110% gets it.”

Before playing Diane on Hollyoaks , Alex made her name as Brookside ’s mouthy Jacqui Dixon, who married to become Jacqui Farnham. Alex loves acting but she’d also relish a stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! after cheering on Nick back in 2023.

She even wants to try a witchetty grub or two. “ It’s one of my favourite shows,” says Alex. “I am at an age where I don’t really care what people think about me anymore.

I’d have a good go. I’d be scared of the water – the water things would freak me out. But I could eat the stuff and I’d be good in a team.”

However, Strictly Come Dancing is where Alex’s heart lies. The star was in the audience of the show last year to support her pal Shayne Ward and loved watching the dancers close up.

“If I had to choose, it would be Strictly all day,” she says. “I danced as a kid and I had the privilege to go and see it last year and I buzzed off seeing the dancers. I just think it’s a skill. Not that I’ve danced in 35 to 40 years.”

Alex even knows who she’d like to dance with – Aljaž Škorjanec. “I love my fitness, I would just love it, 100%. I love Aljaž Škorjanec and I met him after the show and he was just dead friendly and brilliant,” she says. “He’d be brilliant.”

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