Fox’s Bolling, Guilfoyle optimistic heading into 2017

Fox News’s Eric Bolling and Kimberly Guilfoyle believe 2016 was a great year both for themselves and the country, but declare that 2017 will be even better once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.  

“This has been a wonderful election cycle for us. For Fox, for Kimberly, for Donald Trump,” Bolling told The Hill.

“And I think 2017 is going to be even more amazing than 2016. I think everyone is going to be pleasantly surprised around what a uniter the guy really is,” he added of Trump.

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Guilfoyle also thinks that Trump will surprise those who don’t believe he’ll do a good job as president.

“He’s going to exceed their expectations,” she said in a joint interview. “I’ve known the family now for 13 years now and they’re wonderful people.”

“They’re putting all on the line for the country because they believe and they want to make a difference. And that tells me a lot.”

Both Bolling and Guilfoyle made news outside the media bubble recently for being in talks with the Trump transition team to potentially join the administration.

Bolling and Guilfoyle will be front and center Saturday night as Fox News rings in the New Year live from Times Square, the second straight year the pair will be hosting Fox’s “All-American New Year’s” from midtown Manhattan.  

Over on CNN, Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin will also be broadcasting from the center of Times Square not far from their Fox counterparts.

The CNN duo usually spark viral news when Griffin does or says something provocative. The 56-year-old former reality TV star has stripped down to underwear in the past, with video of the pair quickly going viral online.

Bolling and Guilfoyle say the Fox and CNN offerings are very different.

“They created a brand. The brand is that Kathy Griffin says provocative stuff and Anderson Cooper tries to keep a straight face,” Bolling explained. “It’s worked for them.”

“[Fox’s offering] is a different brand and we feel very confident with our brand,” he said.

Guilfoyle said their presentation is more geared for family viewing.

“It’s a different approach and it’s one that works really well with our viewers,” the former Court TV anchor said.

“It’s about men and women and their families. We’re going to be taking everybody to a lot of really cool New Year’s Eve celebrations throughout the country and bringing that into people’s living rooms,” she continued.

“It may be too wholesome for others but we certainly get the viewers. That’s a product that we’re really proud to produce.”

Bolling, a former commodities trader, was recently considered for a position in Trump’s Commerce department while Guilfoyle was seen as a dark horse candidate for the position of White House press secretary, a job that went to former Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer last week.

Another co-host on “The Five,” Dana Perino, was a White House press secretary under President George W. Bush.

Trump’s team ultimately went in another direction on both fronts. But given the high-profile television positions each has in not only co-hosting “The Five” but also guest hosting programs like “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity,” neither minds too much not packing up for Washington.

“We feel incredibly blessed, Eric and I both. We really do have the best job in the world. We love ‘The Five,’ we love working together,” Guilfoyle explained.

“We’re a family. And we’re patriots. We’re flattered to be considered and to have the meetings we had. We always look to serve. And not we look to bring it home to the viewers and have another powerful, huge year,” she said.

January promises to be 2017’s busiest month of the year on the cable news front and exhausting for those who work in it, particularly after a presidential campaign that extended back to early 2015.

Senate confirmation hearings for Trump’s Cabinet picks – Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of State and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for attorney general – will dominate the airwaves in the early days of 2017.

Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20 is also expected to be a spectacle on Capitol Hill.

“There’s plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead,” Bolling said. “This is an opportunity. This is historic.”

Fox and CNN kick off their New Year’s Eve coverage from New York at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night.