The absence of Bob Beckel in the past few months did not go unnoticed by the viewers of "The Five," regardless of whether or not they are fans of the host. To finally put the issue to rest, Fox News Channel released an official announcement regarding the said host and disclosed that Beckel is no longer with the station, according to USA Today.

"We tried to work with Bob for months, but we couldn't hold The Five hostage to one man's personal issues," Fox News' Bill Shine, the executive vice president of programming, disclosed in a statement sent to TV Newser. They added, "He took tremendous advantage of our generosity, empathy and goodwill and we simply came to the end of the road with him. Juan Williams and Geraldo Rivera will be among those rotating on the show for the near future."

Apart from the official statement, one of hosts of "The Five," also shortly addressed the issue. "As you may have heard, Bob Beckel will not be rejoining us at this table. Bob is moving on and The Five continues," said Dana Perino towards the end of the broadcast.

The host's absence was first noted by Mediaite when a number of netizens pointed out that "The Five" had been missing Beckel for quite some time last March. Joining the show in 2000, the controversial host reportedly checked in for rehab therapy due to his alleged addiction to prescription pills, according to Politico. He was last seen in "The Five" on Feb. 16.

Beckel, for his part, provided his fans and followers a brief reaction with respect to the network's statement via social media. He posted on Twitter, "I am no longer on The Five or with Fox. Fox statement today baffles me. I will respond in the appropriate forum. I will miss you all." It appears, however, that the first social media post was not enough for Beckel to express his astonishment over the network's announcement.

In a series of posts via Twitter, the former "The Five" host probed on the reason behind the "anger" emanating from the announcement of his departure from the program. Beckel pointed out that throughout the period of his absence, he needed to undergo "major back surgery" and "could not walk," thereby belying the claim of the network that he took advantage of their generosity. He shared, "I just can't understand the anger in Fox statement."

 

He then posted another Twitter message, "Fox has been good to especially when I was healing. I guess I'll never understand their anger It is all so very sad."

While this is devastating news for those who look forward to Beckel's commentary in "The Five," the turn of events may be the best thing for the host at the moment especially with his health condition. Besides, Beckel is known to have quite a large net worth and will definitely find ways to keep himself busy should he choose to pursue other activities.