Fox News announced on Monday that the network had fired top-rated host Tucker Carlson. Now, rumors are swirling around who the network might choose to take over Carlson’s time slot.

Mediaite published a report titled, “Who Will Replace Tucker Carlson at Fox News? Here Are Mediaite’s Top Picks,” where staff members compiled a list of potential hosts who could take over Carlson’s coveted 8 PM time slot. Fox News stated it would rotate hosts before making any final decisions on Carlson’s replacement.

Right now, Jesse Watters has 7 PM ET, Sean Hannity has 9 PM ET, and Laura Ingraham has the 10 PM ET time slot.

Mediaite suggested in its report that Fox News could simply move around Watters, Ingraham, or Hannity to give them the 8 PM time slot and test a new host in a later time slot. That way, a more seasoned host would simply take over Carlson’s time slot on the network.

In the event that Fox News keeps the primetime hosts in their current time slots, here are the top 6 names that Mediaite suggested could take over Carlson’s show:

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Greg Gutfeld — who hosts “The Five” and his late-night comedy show “Gutfeld!”

Tulsi Gabbard — a former Democratic lawmaker and 2020 presidential candidate

Kayleigh McEnany — former press secretary in the Trump administration

Brian Kilmeade — a longtime host and figure at Fox News

Pete Hegseth — a co-host and contributor at Fox News

Jesse Watters — who hosts “The Five” and his own primetime show

Time will tell what Fox News decides to do, but news of Carlson’s firing ignited a firestorm on social media this week.

Carlson was reportedly “blindsided” on Monday when he received a phone call from CEO Suzanne Scott informing him that he had been fired.

The firing came as Carlson had been negotiating a new contract that would have reportedly kept him at the network through 2029, according to an Independent report.

Now, a former top Fox News host thinks he knows the reason why Carlson was let go.

During an interview with Chris Cuomo of News Nation, Bill O’Reilly — the former Fox News host who previously occupied the coveted primetime 8 PM time slot — argued that he believes Carlson was fired because the network is facing a slew of lawsuits related to the 2020 election.

Fox News just settled a lawsuit with Dominion and agreed to pay out a whopping $787 million. The network also has an ongoing lawsuit filed by former Fox News booker Abby Grossberg.

“Because the pending litigation was harpooned this morning. Carlson didn’t know. It just happened. And that’s the nature of television news, the most wicked industry in the United States of America,” O’Reilly said.

“Tucker Carlson took over from me. For the first three years, his ratings were soft. He lost about a million, maybe a little bit more of my audience, and then in 2020 he took a hard right turn,” O’Reilly said. “Carlson basically programmed for a very hard right audience and his numbers came up.”

WATCH:

Bill O’Reilly tells Chris Cuomo why he thinks Tucker Carlson was fired:

“That’s the nature of television news — the most wicked industry in the United States of America.”pic.twitter.com/6BYflhoDUa

— Patriot Alerts (@alerts___) April 26, 2023

Soon after news of Carlson’s firing, reports shed light on who made the final decision to cut ties with the top host.

A new report reveals that Lachlan Murdoch, the chief executive of Fox Corporation, and Suzanne Scott, chief executive of Fox News Media, decided on Friday night to fire Carlson.

Then, Scott informed Carlson on Monday morning of the decision.

Fox News made headlines last week when it announced that host Dan Bongino had parted ways with the news network in what is a stunner to his fans and fans of the top-rated cable giant.

A report earlier this week suggested that Carlson believes he was fired because the Murdoch family is planning on selling the network.

“Carlson has told people he doesn’t know why he was terminated. According to the source, Scott refused to tell him how the decision was made; she only said that it was made ‘from above.’ Carlson has told people he believes his controversial show is being taken off the air because the Murdoch children intend to sell Fox News at some point,” according to the report.