Rachel Nichols lands new gig with ESPN competitor

Rachel Nichols is about to be back on television.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reports this week that the veteran sports host Nichols is joining Fox Sports 1. Nichols will be serving as a regular panelist alongside Skip Bayless on FS1’s “Undisputed.”

Shannon Sharpe, Bayless’s debate partner on “Undisputed” for the last seven years, recently left FS1 amid much ballyhoo. Rather than appointing a direct replacement for Sharpe, the network has decided to go with a rotating cast of panelists to debate with Bayless. Rapper Lil Wayne will be another such panelist as will this well-known former NFL star.

As for Nichols, she left her longtime employer ESPN (whom she had two separate stints with) in early 2022. Nichols had been taken off the air by the network in 2021 after some comments she made about ex-ESPN colleague Maria Taylor were leaked. She got a notable gig at Showtime late last year and is now set to return to cable TV.