On August 11, Fox News announced that show anchor, Shannon Bream, would be taking on a permanent role as the host of the station’s “Fox News Sunday.” Bream will be replacing former host Chris Wallace, who left the network last year for CNN. She will host her first show on September 11. Bream, a graduate of Liberty University with former experiences in law, has been with Fox News since 2007 and released a statement after the announcement, saying, “It has been an honor to cover major news throughout Washington over the last 15 years at Fox News. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to host a Sunday show and look forward to this new role.”
Bream wrote on Twitter a couple of days after the announcement how her career path had not always been so easy. “Y’all, I got fired from my first tv job, by a man who told me I was the worst person he’d ever seen on tv,” she wrote. She went on to detail how the man had told her she’d never make it in the business. Bream, a Christian, was humiliated. “I prayed… a lot,” she wrote. However, instead of turning the post into a bitter tirade against the man or as a prideful boast against his judgment, she wrote, “That man did me a favor.” After a thorough inner search and having others review her tapes, Bream realized she had a lot to improve on if she hoped to have a career. “There is always room for improvement, and believe me I needed it,” she admitted. “I got a healthy serving of humility, and learned that God often allows us to walk through valleys – for our own good.”
Bream has had to overcome a number of valleys in her life. Her husband, Sheldon Bream, was diagnosed with a brain tumor at 24 as the two were planning their wedding. Thankfully, he was able to beat his cancer and Bream detailed her experience in her book, “Finding the Bright Side.” Her Twitter post alluded to her diagnosis of “chronic erosion syndrome exacerbated by corneal map-dot fingerprint dystrophy.” In 2010, she began suffering from severe left eye pain that kept her unable to sleep. When she sat down in 2019 with “People,” she revealed how the 2-year search for a diagnosis and sleepless nights left her without a will to live. “I was two years into it. I was in my early 40s, and I said, ‘No way I could live another 40 years like that. If all of my waking hours are in pain, what is the point of going on?’” When she finally found a doctor to diagnose her and help her through a series of treatments, she said, “I couldn’t be more grateful now. When I get out of bed in the morning, I literally say a prayer. The first thing I do is thank God that I got through the night.” In reflecting on her past in her post, Bream praised God, saying, “God walks with us through our deepest sorrows, and celebrates with us on our mountaintops. Our circumstances may change, but He never will.”