Shae Cornette’s ‘First Take’ Debut Began With Classic Stephen A. Smith Cowboys Bit

Andy Nesbitt | Nov 3, 2025

Shea Cornette replaced Molly Qerim as host of ESPN's hit morning show "First Take." / @ESPN

Monday was a bit of new beginning for ESPN's hit morning show First Take but it started in a familiar way—with Stephen A. Smith trashing the Cowboys in front of a huge crowd of the team's fans.

Shae Cornette made her debut as the host of the show, officially taking over for Molly Qerim who abruptly left the show and the network in September.

Cornette's first show just happened to fall on the morning of the Cardinals-Cowboys matchup later tonight on Monday Night Football. To celebrate that, First Take hit the road and had a live show in Dallas with a full crowd gathered behind the set.

Smith kicked off the show by tearing into the Cowboys and their fans.

"Howdy! How y’all doing. We dem ‘Boys for sure? We dem 'Boys for sure?," Smith said to the boisterous crowd. "Hey, you guys gonna play some defense tonight? I’m just asking, I’m just asking. By the way, quick aside, quick aside can y’all give a round of applause to our new host of First Take, the one and only Shae Cornette. She’s in the house. First day on the job. Welcome to the show. Congratulations."

Cornette was then able to sneak in a few words:

"This is loud for 9 a.m. on a Monday morning, let me tell you," she said. "And I have a feeling it’s going to get even louder when Michael Irvin stops by later on."

Here's that moment:

The Shae Cornette era of First Take has begun pic.twitter.com/hutypmNLNT

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 3, 2025

Qerim had been one of the main faces on First Take since 2015 but now Cornette's era is under way and it seems like while the show has a new host, it's going to be much of the same from the very loud morning show.

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