'The Five': 'RedEye' host Greg Gutfeld gets to sit at the grown-ups' table

On Monday, July 11, the host of the irreverent 3 a.m. ET news/pop-culture roundtable show "RedEye W/Greg Gutfeld" gets a regular gig in the light of day.

"Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun and a challenge," Gutfeld tells Zap2it "I'm going to be doing two shows a day, so I'll be working around the clock. Won't be getting to the gym as much, sadly. They'll miss me."
 
He's appearing in the first (of many) episodes of "The Five," the new summer inhabitant of the former time slot of Fox News Channel's "The Glenn Beck Show," weekdays at 5 p.m. ET.

On any given day, five members of a rotating ensemble of FNC personalities will, as the press release said, "discuss, debate and at times debunk the hot news stories, controversies and issues of the day."

Sadly for "Beck" fans, no word that chalkboards are involved. But Gutfeld promises one of his favorite "RedEye" elements will appear sooner or later.

"I, actually, will be working unicorns into the show," says Gutfeld. "So, by the end of the year, it will be 90 percent unicorns, 10 percent news."

Along with Gutfeld, the show features journalist and former NPR political analyst Juan Williams; former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, Dana Perino; libertarian Judge Andrew Napolitano; journalist and lawyer Geraldo Rivera; Republican media strategist Andrea Tantaros; financial expert and commentator Eric Bolling; conservative radio host Monica Crowley; Democratic political analyst Bob Beckel; and former San Francisco prosecutor Kimberly Guilfoyle, who's also the ex-wife of California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Gutfeld is a former satirical, right-of-center Huffington Post blogger and magazine editor, and the author of several books, most recently, "The Bible of Unspeakable Truths." He still blogs at The Daily Gut.

"We get along great," says Gutfeld of the team at "The Five." "They're all good people. The fact that they have to put up with me is more of a problem. I'm basically a prima donna and a jerk, and I'm constantly demanding things.

"You should see my rider for this show. My dressing room has to be stocked with 400 goose-down pillows, in which I then lie for approximately two hours before the show, while I am fed bon-bons and grapes."

But seriously, UC Berkeley grad Gutfeld -- who went from twice-fired magazine editor to having his own latenight TV show -- is pleased with the way things have turned out.

"I had no expectations," he says. "That's the best way to go through life. I'm just happy to be here on the planet. These things that happen are just a reward, and I'm happy that I have a job."

Of course, now that Gutfeld is a regular on a show in the daytime, he has to up his game.

"It's almost like saying you're at the kiddie table, and now you're coming to the grown-up table. I feel like I can pretty much do any hour, it's just whether or not they trust me to do it, which I think they do. I'm excited about it.

"At least, a lot of my friends can actually see me on TV now, because they just couldn't be bothered to stay awake until 3 a.m."