New Skip Bayless Show Debuts In Sept. On Fox Sports1

Skip Bayless

Skip Bayless says his move to Fox Sports 1 — with a new daily program that is set to bow Sept. 6 — will allow him to remove the "handcuffs" he's been compelled to wear at ESPN, where he hosted the popular ESPN2 program First Take with Stephen A. Smith.

"Too many people in charge at ESPN, for my taste, were a little too fearful," Bayless tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview officially revealing his move. "It's a Disney network. There are just certain boundaries that you can't even tiptoe along. Not that we won't have boundaries at Fox, because we will. [But] they will trust me to go a little deeper. I can be completely honest on everything."

The long-rumored announcement is expected to be made Monday from Fox Sports National Networks president Jamie Horowitz, who had oversight of First Take while he was a vp at ESPN. And Bayless' FS1 show will air from 10 a.m. to noon, going head-to-head with First Take.

Bayless, 64, declines to offer specifics about the new show or his co-host (NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe has been rumored), nor will he discuss topics that were verboten at ESPN. And he notes that leaving the network after 12 years was "extremely difficult."