In 'Turns Out They Were Right All Along' Veteran Anchor Gains Bits of Wisdom From Familiar & Unfamiliar Names

Jeff Walker,  Entertainment Writer / Interview & Book Review

In October of 1996 Fox News, then a fledging cable news network signed on the air, with pretty much a hope and a prayer. Thirty years later five of their original personalities still remain, including Sean Hannity, Lauren Green, Steve Doocy, Eric Shawn, and Trace Gallagher. 

Prior to coming on board with Fox, Gallagher worked on network affiliates in Las Vegas, Boise, and Orlando. He admits it was a gamble at first coming to a start up. "Several of us thought it wasn't going to work out. Steve Doocy said the odds were stacked against us, and he was the first to sign on."

Gallagher adds. "I was working in Orlando and I had just signed a new contract when Fox contacted me. So I go to Chicago, and the next day I'm on a plane to New York." He recalls his meeting with Roger Ailes the founding CEO of Fox News. "Almost right away he says to me, 'I don't like curly hair'. 30 years ago my hair was a lot curlier."

He continues. "Ailes tells me he watches several TVs, all with the sound turned down because he's super busy. The only time he turns a particular TV up is when something animated is happening with the reporter or the newscast. And he said he never turns the sound up on someone with curly hair."

A brief moment of doubt overcame Gallagher. "At the point I was certain I wasn't going to get the job. Obviously I did, and here I am three decades later." Based in the Los Angeles area, Gallagher currently is the host of Fox News @ Night which airs at 11pm ET, an anchor position he's held since October 2022.

Oddly enough, Gallagher got the job in Orlando and with Fox News due to his resemblance to a former Fox co-worker. "I wasn't even trying for the job in Orlando. I was there visiting my sister and dropped a tape off. They called me back in because I reminded them of Shepard Smith. Turns out he was heading to Miami. When the Fox interview came about, they said you look a lot like the guy we just hired, Shepard Smith."

Admittedly, the first year with Fox was grueling, but a legendary football coach offered words of encouragement. "I remember being down in New Orleans covering the Super Bowl with Steve Doocy. We're hanging out in the back of the satellite truck and there's John Madden just smoking a cigarette. Steve and I are talking, we hate 15 and 16 hour days. How long can we last. Madden walks up and says 'just hang in there'. By 2000 Fox was #1 and we've remained that for the past 25 years."

That recollection and other similar are now available in Gallagher's first ever book, 'Turns Out They Were Right All Along' subtitled 'Life Lessons I Learned ... Eventually'. Covering 226 pages, the book is somewhat of a time capsule from Gallagher's 65 years on the planet, as well as over 35 years in broadcasting. While it's hard to categorize, he says it could be listed under varying sections in a book store. 

"It's funny. They've listed this book as a memoir, a self help book, and under several genres. It's a hard book to pigeon hole. Even the publisher Harper Collins can't define it. Really it's about people I've met over the years, not all have been since I've been on TV. It's stories they've offered up about wisdom. Some I've followed some not, more so because I was too young at the time to fully appreciate it, telling myself 'I've got this'."

The words of wisdom came from several high profile individuals. "There's John Wooden, probably the most famous basketball coach of all time. There's Jimmy Buffett, John Madden, Tom Brady, and other names readers would easily recognize. All I've encountered at different times in my life."

But according to Gallagher, one hits closer to home during his teenage years. "There's a section in the book titled 'Dreams of Field'. My old high school baseball coach (Coach Greene) always wanted to coach baseball, and he did for 27 years. But when he started in my hometown of Mammoth Lakes California, which is a ski resort town that averages around 500 inches of snow every year, it was near impossible to play baseball there."

But much like each and every account in Gallagher's book, Coach Greene didn't let circumstances deter him. "He took his teams to the playoffs 23 of his 27 years, and once to the state championship. And it just so happens during the championship run the movie theater across from the hotel they were staying at was showing 'Field of Dreams' with Kevin Costner."

How ironic. "Costner's message in the movie is 'build it and they will come'. For Coach Greene is was 'keep winning and they will build it'. Near the end of his coaching career, around year 25 they built a baseball field on a little lower elevation, so they could host home games. That's just one of the heroic stories featured in my book."

His brief encounter with Wooden is one of the more humorous snippets in the book. "I wasn't any good at basketball and didn't want to play. But Mammoth High School didn't have a lot of students, so you had to play all three sports. And the only way to get better back in the mid 1970's in California was by attending John Wooden's Basketball Camp."

By 1970's standards it wasn't cheap. "It was $500. I asked my dad, and he said if you raise 250 I'll give you the other 250. Long story short, I got to go. I'm there probably five minutes with other hopefuls, and in walks Wooden, the 'Wizard of Westwood'. At that point in time he'd won 10 of the last 12 NCAA championships."

Here's where it gets funny. "He steps up to the mike. Says hello and welcomes us to his camp. Then he says make sure to wear two pair of socks. The first inside out and another pair over them. That way you'll never get blisters on your feet. You can't play basketball with blisters. After that he walks out and we never see him again. When you're a teenager you say to yourself, 'is there more'. But when you get older you come to understand he's teaching you a fundamental lesson for the game. Fundamentals equal good outcomes."

Gallagher was on air when he and many TV viewers learned of Wooden's death. "I was actually filling in for Shepard Smith when the news came across the wire. That was over 16 years ago. The producer was in my ear asking if I needed a script to read, and I said no I've got this."

A 1979 graduate at Mammoth Lakes High School, Gallagher earned a business degree at the University of San Diego, where he played quarterback for the Tolero football team. After college he spent five years working as a professional show and water skier before beginning his career in television journalism.

"I was good at skiing, and worked hard at different skill levels to earn more money." He never imagined doing it long term. "At one point I dreamt of being a high school football coach." As fate would have it after an injury, a stint announcing a ski show for a cable network show lead him to rethink his career path.

He became comfortable at the mike, eventually hosting fashion shows and dress auctions in San Diego. He followed that with an internship at a local television station. "I had no intention of doing news. But whatever I could do then to be on the air more, I jumped at." It must have been in the cards, because not long after he landed jobs in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and Florida before joining as an original member of the Fox News launch team in 1996.

'Turns Out They Were Right All Along' brings the Fox News veteran full circle, looking back on a respected television career. With the network celebrating its 30th anniversary Gallagher felt it was the right time for him to write the book.

All the accounts in Gallagher's book are genuine and inspirational including the piece on the writer of the song 'Superman' John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting), recalling the moment his song became an anthem after the September 11 attacks and him performing the song at The Concert for New York City on October 20, 2001. An extremely touching chapter.

And there's the story of a former Disney and Paramount Studios executive turned winemaker, and Tom Brady's quest to be the best. Both relay similar messages. "If you want to succeed in life, often it takes hard work and sacrifice." Paraphrasing from the book's jacket cover, 'the quirkiest lessons and the wildest adventures can leave the deepest marks on your feet and your future'. "That's been my experience."

He adds. "The whole book deals with common sense. We toyed with 'Trace of Common Sense' as the title. The book is basically 10 stories of common sense you have as an opportunity to accept, but when you're young and brash don't fully get. Later you realize it's good wisdom. These are lessons learned from people I've met and who've had an impact on me."

Patriotism, faith, sportsmanship, work ethics, financial and marital advice, as well as a different Flight 93 abound in 'Turns Out They Were Right All Along'. Gathering these stories in one book, he hopes to impart his own pearls of wisdom. "That would be nice." A proud girl dad, Trace Gallagher's book is dedicated to his wife Tracy and their two daughters Evy and Lila. He and Tracy's meeting for the first time is one of the more endearing moments in his book.

Released on Sept 15, 2026 'Turns Out They Were Right All Along : Life Lessons I Learned ... Eventually' is available through Harper Collins, Amazon, and your local bookstore. While it's not quite a memoir, Gallagher's book does chronical his career, and provide useful common sense lessons in life. For more visit https://www.harpercollins.com/products/turns-out-they-were-right-all-along-trace-gallagher?variant=44814146895906