Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov has shared the profound emotional experience of learning her father was nearing death on her wedding day. The personal account is detailed in her new book, “I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends,” which also touches on the coinciding momentum of her career at Fox News.

Tarlov, 42, was 12 weeks pregnant when she married Brian McKenna in 2021. On the morning of the ceremony, her mother informed her that her father, Mark Tarlov, needed to be taken to the hospital. He had been battling tongue cancer since 2007. His illness was reportedly linked to exposure to toxic air following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Mark Tarlov, a film producer who later became a winemaker, managed to attend the ceremony in a wheelchair, though he was unable to speak clearly due to a tracheal tube. "Everyone cried. A lot," Jessica Tarlov wrote, describing the intense mix of happiness and sadness she felt. Her husband's mother, who met her father for the first time that day, reportedly feared he might not survive the event.

His health continued to decline throughout that summer, with pneumonia leading to repeated hospitalizations. After the family decided to cease treatment, they gathered at his bedside. Shortly before midnight in July 2021, Jessica, her mother, and her sister were with him as he passed away.

Simultaneously, Tarlov's career at Fox News was advancing. With Juan Williams having departed “The Five,” a co-host position opened up. Tarlov had already established relationships with the show's hosts through her appearances across the network and felt she was gaining confidence on air.

Fox News later selected Tarlov to become a regular co-host of “The Five” when she was eight months pregnant with her first daughter. Her father did not live to see her take on this role. Earlier in her career, he had expressed concern about her television appearances, sometimes asking her mother to screen episodes beforehand due to fears she might be subjected to harsh criticism. However, before his death, he had become enthusiastic about her growing confidence and work on television.

Tarlov recounted an on-air moment when she became emotional discussing a charity event for 9/11 first responders, which led her to speak about her father and cry. A fellow co-host placed a hand on her shoulder. She noted that viewers responded supportively to this display of vulnerability, which helped convince her that sharing her struggles could foster common ground, even with those who held different political views. "Crying over my father’s death that day felt like an enormous release," she wrote, adding that it felt like she no longer had to hide her personal grief from colleagues or viewers.