First Take has gone throughout plenty of changes since its premiere on ESPN back in 2007. However, the era of the show that’s arguably most remembered by viewers is the one that saw Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless serve as the two main hosts. The pair dominated the daytime sports space for a while, though that ended in a less-than-ideal way years ago. But, now, in a surprising turn of events, Bayless and Smith are about to reunite on the show, and I’m already anticipating some pretty wild arguments.
It was reported on Monday that First Take would welcome back Skip Bayles this coming Friday, May 8. According to Front Office Sports, this reunion between Bayless and Stephen A. Smith is being billed as a “one-time show.” With that, it seems fans shouldn’t expect this to become a regular occurrence, though I wonder if that could change depending on how the ratings shake out. Regardless, the mere fact that Smith and Bayless will be together on a dais again is very surreal.
Bayless began serving as an analyst on First Take (which originally aired on ESPN2 until 2016) beginning in 2007, the year the show debuted. Smith joined the program in 2012 and, over those next several years, FT (which previously faced cancellation) became a ratings juggernaut for Disney’s flagship sports brand. As noted by FOS, the series essentially launched a new era of sports-centric talk shows, which attempted to replicate its debate-centric formula.
Article continues belowIt’s due to that format that I’m very interested in seeing what Bayless and Smith end up discussing – and/or arguing about – during the broadcast later this week. There’s certainly plenty for them to talk about and, as a basketball fan, I’d be particularly curious to hear them debate developments within the NBA Playoffs. I can’t imagine the two would agree on everything when it comes to that postseason, and I can practically hear the back-and-forth in my head now.
Of course, when the pair reunite, it’ll also be hard not to think about the drama that’s swirled around them in recent years. Bayless left First Take for Fox Sports in 2016 and, around that same time, he also shared his issues with ESPN. Drama between him and Smith began in 2022, at which point Smith seemed to suggest during an interview that he was mostly responsible for First Take’s success. Bayless didn’t take too kindly to the assertion and fired back, noting that the show’s ratings were already strong by the time Smith joined the show. Since then, though, the pair have seemingly buried the hatchet, and Smith even served as the first guest on Bayless’ own show.
Times have changed for both Smith and Bayless as far as their careers go. After Bayless left ESPN in 2016, he remained with Fox Sports as the co-host of Undisputed until he left FS 2024. During his tenure, Bayless was also embroiled in some drama with co-host Shannon Sharpe, which led to Sharpe’s own exit from the network in 2023. Sharpe, coincidentally, eventually went to work at ESPN on a rotating basis, and appeared alongside Smith on First Take (and would accidentally call him “Skip” on air.)
Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless’ reunion should be a sight to behold, and I’m curious as to how it’ll ultimately play out. Given there seems to be no bad blood between them now, I’d imagine that the debates won’t get personal and will ultimately translate into passionate debates about sports.
First Take airs weekly on ESPN at 10 a.m. ET as part of the 2026 TV schedule.
