ESPN chooses Shae Cornette as Molly Qerim’s ‘First Take’ replacement

ESPN has their new “First Take” host.

After a month-long tryout period, the network chose Shae Cornette to replace Molly Qerim on “First Take,” Front Office Sports reported Thursday.

Qerim, who hosted “First Take” for 10 years, abruptly quit the show and ESPN last month after reports emerged that she would be leaving at the end of the year.

Amina Smith, MJ Acosta Ruiz, Courtney Cronin and Joe Fortenbaugh also filled in during the month-long tryout period.

“After much reflection, I’ve decided it’s time to close this incredible chapter and step away from First Take,” Qerim wrote on Instagram the night she decided to split with ESPN.

“Hosting this show has been one of the greatest honors of my career. Every morning, I had the privilege of sharing the desk with some of the most brilliant, passionate, and entertaining voices in sports — and with all of you, the best fans in the world.”

Stephen A. Smith is the star of the program with a rotating group of analysts that join him and the host throughout the week.

Qerim was in the middle of contract negotiations and ESPN’s president of content Burke Magnus told The Athletic he believed that the two were working towards a deal where she would continue with the network, but no longer host “First Take.”

Everything changed suddenly the night of Sept. 14 when Sports Business Journal broke the story of Qerim leaving at the end of the year.

She then released her statement and has not appeared on the show since or made any comments on her decision.

“The one thing that was unexpected was the timing of all this,” Magnus said. “[Qerim] put out a statement because there was a report on it, so it kind of got out of our respective controls once that happened.

“While we knew we were going to make a change — her deal ran through the end of the year — we were more focused on that timeline. So we’re going to take probably about 30 to 45 days to try a variety of in-house people because we can do that on the show. Then we’ll make a decision.”

Cornette, 39, currently anchors afternoon editions of “SportsCenter” after starting her career with the Big Ten Network and as a Bears reporter for Fox 32.

“This business is hard and can be a roller coaster, you just have to enjoy the ride because there are going to be ups and downs,” Shae told Moffly Lifestyle Media recently. “I now host SportsCenter on ESPN at 2 p.m., which is truly a dream job.”

Shae is married to Jordan Cornette, a former Notre Dame basketball star, and the couple has two kids together.

Jordan is a college basketball analyst at NBC and will be a sideline NBA reporter this upcoming season.