When was Steve Doocy’s wife diagnosed with cancer? Family struggles explored as Fox & Friends icon transitions into new role

After almost three decades of hosting Fox & Friends, Steve Doocy will no longer be seen in the studio. The co-host is stepping away from the full-time role, as he announced on May 1,

“After decades of getting up at 3:30 and driving into NYC in the dark, today is the last day I will host the show…from the couch. I am not retiring, I’m not leaving the show. I’m still a host —but it’s time for a change.”

While the co-anchor assured that he will continue working, Doocy is transitioning to a new role to focus on his other projects. The Fox News host also mentioned traveling with his wife, Kathy, to meet their children and grandkids. Steve has been married to the author and former model since 1986, and the couple has three children — Mary, Sally, and Peter Doocy.

Around 2015, Kathy Doocy was diagnosed with ocular melanoma, a rare eye cancer. In a 2020 interview with Survivornet, Steve revealed that they discovered the condition after a visit to their eye specialist. Her diagnosis also inspired the couple to co-author their Happy Cookbook series.

Kathy and Steve Doocy’s visit to their eye doctor led to the former’s cancer diagnosis months later

According to Survivornet, the Fox & Friends co-presenter and his wife were planning a trip to Florida around 2015 when they visited their New Jersey-based eye specialist for a sunglasses prescription. During the regular check-up, the doctor found a freckle on the back of one of Kathy’s eyes.

Steve recalled that the eye specialist asked them to return three months later for another check-up. At the time, the doctor reassured the couple that the freckle was probably nothing. During their second visit, Kathy and Steve were asked to have it checked by a retinal specialist; as the latter recounted,

“[The doctor] said ‘I just think [the retinal specialist] should take a look at it just to make sure. The tone of his voice was such like, ‘just to make sure;’ we’re thinking it’s nothing.”

Kathy and Steve Doocy visited a retinal specialist and later visited Philadelphia’s Wills Eye Hospital for some tests. The Fox News host recalled,

“It took all day, [the doctor] comes in and she said, ‘Kathy, you’ve got cancer, but I’m going to save your life.’ Anytime you hear, ‘you’ve got cancer,’ you just stop breathing.”

After getting diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer, Kathy Doocy underwent radioactive plaque therapy. Amidst her treatment, the author was visited by her kids. Steve said his wife was unsure of the treatment then and wanted to leave a recipe book behind for their children. Doocy recalled,

“My wife is thinking ‘what if I don’t make it?’ ‘Who’s going to take care of my kids?’ ‘Who’s going to make them those foods that they grew up eating?’ She said, ‘you know what, when I get home, I’m going to start writing down the recipes because my kids need to know how to make those foods that will remind them of their childhood.’”

Steve added,

“I thought, great idea. That actually is where the idea for our cookbook, the Happy Cookbook series, came from it in the middle of the night.”

Fortunately, the treatment worked, and Kathy was declared cancer-free within two years of her cancer diagnosis. It was not the first time Steve Doocy and his family faced personal struggles. Previously, the Fox & Friends anchor lost both of his parents unexpectedly, while his family’s golden retriever, Charlie, also passed away due to cancer.

Steve Doocy has stepped away from his full-time job as Fox & Friends host to focus on his other projects

The longtime TV presenter will no longer be a permanent face on the Fox News show he co-anchored for almost three decades. Steve Doocy will work three days a week in a bid to devote the rest of the time to his other projects. Steve is relocating to Florida for some of his live hits and will travel more often, as he shared during the May 1 broadcast of Fox & Friends,

“I’m going to do some live hits from Florida. But I’ll still travel some — you won’t know where I’m going to be. I’m going to be the coast-to-coast host. Not the couch host — the coast, the coast host! Not having to be anchored to the NYC studios every day feels great, to be honest.”

During the broadcast, Steve Doocy also claimed that he had gotten up at 3:30 am on 6,828 days since the inception of Fox & Friends. However, despite not loving the routine, the co-anchor asserted that he has zero regrets but wants to “transition to the next stage” of his personal life.

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For his 27-year-long tenure on the show, Steve Doocy also received appreciation and congratulations from US President Donald Trump.

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