Tucker Carlson has released a statement after he surprisingly left Fox News after almost a decade with the network.
The conservative commentator, 53, joked 'retirement is going great so far' as he finally emerged from his $5.5million Florida beach home.
"'I haven’t eaten dinner with my wife on a weeknight in seven years," he added, when asked for comment by The Mail Online.
The dad-of-four then sped off in his golf cart as he ignored questions about being 'blindsided' by the departure.
His brief response comes after the network released a statement on Monday to say there had been a mutual agreement to part ways.
Fox News said: "FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.
"Mr Carlson's last program was Friday April 21st.
"Fox News Tonight will air live at 8PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named."
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In his fleeting appearance, Carlson was also asked if bosses at his former employer were happy at his departure, to which he replied: "Ha! I'm sure."
His response was in reaction to a senior Department of Defense official, who said: "We're a better country without him bagging on our military every night in front of hundreds of thousands of people."
As well as being with the network for almost a decade, Tucker had hosted his popular Tucker Carlson Tonight show since 2016.
The decision to part ways was seemingly a surprise to Tucker who had told fans on his last ever show he would return for a new week of shows.
"What a great way to end the week, truly that was a great segment," the presenter said.
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He added: "That's it from us for the week, we'll be back. By the way, the entire episode of Let Them Eat Bugs, not quite as good as pizza, streaming now on Fox Nation News.
"We'll be back on Monday. In the meantime, have the best weekend with the ones that you love."
His swift exit came just days after Fox settled with Dominion Voting Systems, which had sued for defamation.
Dominion Voting Systems had sued Rupert Murdoch's business empire claiming it had damaged its reputation by repeatedly airing conspiracy theories in the US about its machine.
They claimed many of the channels star presenters, including Tucker, falsely accused the company of helping orchestrate a fraud that cost former President Donald Trump re-election in 2020.
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