Todd Piro may begin his working day before millions of Americans have even poured their first cup of coffee, but the Fox News presenter’s most important role begins when the studio lights are switched off.
Away from the headlines, political debates and playful exchanges on Gutfeld!, Todd is a devoted husband to former television journalist Amanda Raus and a proud father to their two daughters, McKenna and Alexis.
The family provides a quieter centre to a career that has taken Todd from a Los Angeles law firm to one of America’s most recognisable morning-news programmes.
He currently co-hosts Fox & Friends First alongside Carley Shimkus and regularly appears across Fox News and Fox Business on programmes including Fox & Friends, Outnumbered, Gutfeld! and Varney & Co.
His ability to move between serious reporting and quick humour has made him a natural fit for early-morning television.
Yet broadcasting was not his original profession.
Todd graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College before earning his law degree at UCLA.
He then spent five years practising law at Hughes Hubbard & Reed in Los Angeles, building the disciplined research and questioning skills that would later become valuable in television journalism.
Despite the stability of a legal career, Todd felt increasingly drawn towards storytelling and live news.
He left law for broadcasting, beginning as a morning anchor at CBS affiliate KPSP Local 2 in Palm Springs.
He later moved to NBC Connecticut, where he presented the weekday edition of NBC Connecticut Today and appeared as a guest anchor on national NBC programmes including Early Today, First Look and The Place for Politics.
His reporting assignments included Hurricane Sandy, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and major national elections.
Todd joined Fox News in 2017 and eventually became a permanent presence on Fox & Friends First, which requires a schedule few parents would envy.
He has said he never presses the snooze button, treating his energy almost like a baseball manager handles a bullpen — pushing through busy periods before finding opportunities to recover.
Coffee, unsurprisingly, also plays an important part.
Todd’s years in Connecticut brought more than professional experience.
They also led him to Amanda, a fellow broadcaster who was working in the same regional-news world.
The couple became engaged in 2014 and married on June 14, 2015, beginning a partnership built around an understanding of irregular hours, breaking stories and the demands of appearing live on television.
Amanda developed her own respected career in Connecticut news, working at stations including NBC Connecticut, Fox 61 and WTNH.
She later stepped away from daily television and moved into communications, bringing her newsroom experience into a different professional setting.
Todd has frequently celebrated her strength as both a working professional and a mother.
The couple welcomed their first daughter, McKenna, in November 2020.
Todd later took six weeks of paternity leave, an experience he described as an education in bottles, sleeplessness, children’s songs and the powerful bond forming inside his young family.
Rather than treating the time away from television as a break from important work, he recognised fatherhood as a responsibility that deserved his complete attention.
Their second daughter, Alexis, arrived on Father’s Day in June 2022.
The timing made her birth especially emotional for Todd, who described his newborn as the greatest Father’s Day gift he could have received.
Returning to the Fox studio after her arrival, he proudly shared photographs and spoke about life in a home now filled with two little girls.
McKenna and Alexis have since become the centre of the couple’s family photographs, something Todd jokingly acknowledged while celebrating his 11th wedding anniversary with Amanda.
He said that because nearly every recent picture on his phone featured their daughters, he had been forced to travel far back through his camera roll to find a romantic photograph of the couple alone.
The light-hearted tribute revealed a familiar reality for many parents: once children arrive, family albums rapidly become dominated by first steps, birthdays and everyday moments that suddenly feel worth preserving.
Todd’s public personality also reflects the slightly sentimental, frequently joking father seen at home.
He has enthusiastically discussed his love of sport, defended Michael Jordan as basketball’s greatest player and recalled a 2017 Coldplay concert in Foxborough as the best live show he had attended.
Asked to imagine a perfect historical dinner, he selected George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan — but paired the presidential guest list with the comforting menu of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and mint-chocolate-chip ice cream.
The contrast captures much of Todd’s appeal.
He can discuss politics one moment and fatherhood, food or music the next without appearing to change character.
The family’s private life is understandably more protected than his television work, but the moments Todd does share convey gratitude rather than performance.
His marriage to Amanda connects two people who understand the pressure of journalism, while their daughters have changed how he measures time and success.
A major interview may dominate one morning.
By the evening, the priorities are likely to involve dinner, bedtime and whatever new adventure McKenna and Alexis have created.
Todd once advised younger people to pursue ambitious changes before parenthood makes every decision more complicated.
His own journey from law to local broadcasting and finally national television is proof that he followed that advice.
But he has also made clear that the complications brought by children are the best kind.
Fox viewers know Todd Piro as the sharply dressed anchor who is alert before dawn and always prepared with another question or joke.
Amanda, McKenna and Alexis know the person behind that image — the husband searching through old photographs for an anniversary post and the father hurrying home to the two most important members of his audience.
His career may begin beneath the bright lights of a television studio.
But the life that matters most is waiting beyond the camera. ❤️
