Speaking in a video posted to X, much-beloved longtime “Fox & Friends” meteorologist Janice Dean revealed that she has had to step away from the show and the network after 22 years on the television because she is fighting a painful battle with multiple sclerosis that has made her schedule too demanding to continue.
Announcing as much in the video that was posted on Thursday, June 25, the longtime FNC meteorologist explained that all the time she has to spend on her feet and working early mornings, not to mention with the constant pressure of live TV, is just too difficult for her given her challenging health woes.
Revealing her departure on X, she posted a video and captioned it, “I know so many of you have been wondering where I’ve been. Please know I’ve read your comments, prayers and words of support and kindness. It meant the world to me. Goodbyes are hard. But they are necessary before you can meet again… Love, JD ☀️”
Beginning the video, she started with a story, saying, “A few weeks ago I was invited to a farewell event at St. Mary’s in Long Beach, New York. The associate pastor, Father Steven, is leaving his parish, Beach Catholic, to join Our Lady of Peace in Lynbrook to become their new pastor. Every pew is filled with well-wishers because Father Stephen is such a beloved figure in the community, and he’s going to be greatly missed the subject of his last holy hour spoke to my heart because it was about saying goodbye.”
Continuing, she noted the difficulty of saying “goodbye,” telling watchers, “He held up a children’s book that was given to him a decade ago when he was leaving a teaching job to become a priest. It was called Courage and was filled with stories about people doing brave things. There was a lesson in those pages about saying goodbye as an important act of courage, it’s one of the hardest things we do as humans, but throughout life we must go through endings to experience new beginnings.”
Connecting that to her decision to say goodbye from the network, he said, “Father Steven’s words were extremely moving and emotional, because he was going through the same thing I was finding it difficult to say goodbye for me, saying goodbye to something that has been a pivotal part of my life for over 22 years.”
She then described her challenging health battle, “For a long time, I was able to handle the early mornings, the many hours on my feet, and the stress of broadcasting live. Getting up at 2: 30 in the morning and performing anything is hard, but especially for someone who has multiple sclerosis? For those living with MS, the war is inside of us. We may look fine, but our immune system is attacking the brain, the spinal cord, and sometimes the optic nerve. We are left with permanent scars, but ones you can only see on MRI imaging.”
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Describing that health battle in more depth, she then said, “Thankfully, I was diagnosed early, and I’ve been on different therapies for over the last two decades, but there’s no cure for MS, and over time my symptoms have progressed. Unfortunately, lack of sleep and stress are some of the biggest triggers, and I was increasingly feeling the effects of my limitations. Ultimately, my symptoms progressed to the point that I can no longer continue working in my role, and my doctors agreed that stepping away was necessary for my health.”
Returning to the matter of her saying goodbye, she commented on what she will remember, saying, “There are so many things I’ll miss, the friends I’ve met, of course, the places I’ve visited, the storms I’ve covered, and the millions of viewers who have invited me into their homes every morning through the good times and the bad, the dark clouds and the sunshine, you’ve always been there for me. My favorite part was meeting so many of you in person, the smiles, the hugs, the kids that came to do the weather with me. Those are the moments I remember the most.”
She concluded, “I’m also grateful for my family and my closest friends, whose love and encouragement has gotten me through these really tough moments, but I know how lucky I was, and that’s why it’s so hard to finally say the words, so maybe I’ll call this my mostly sunny goodbye, because for every goodbye there’s always the next hello, and maybe the chance to meet again one day in a different place at another time. Take good care of yourselves. Be well. God bless you all. And thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Watch her here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video