Cynthia Smoot to retire from Fox 13 News after 25 years

TAMPA — Cynthia Smoot, the Emmy award-winning co-anchor of the 5 and 11 p.m. broadcasts at Fox 13 News, will retire after 25 years at the station.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, because that’s what they say when you’re having a good time,” Smoot said during her on-air retirement announcement Thursday.

Smoot’s last newscast will happen on Dec. 1.

“The late Mr. Rogers said often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re really at the beginning of something else,” Smoot said on air. “I believe him and I’m looking forward to more time to spend with my adorable husband — actually going to sleep when he does so I don’t have to tiptoe around at one o’clock in the morning.”

Smoot spent over 35 years in broadcast journalism, working at a Fox-owned station in North Carolina before coming to Fox 13 in Tampa, according to her bio. Some of her most notable stories have been about animals, from covering Winter the Dolphin’s arrival at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to traveling to the Everglades to report on invasive Burmese pythons. Smoot won an Emmy in 1998 for reporting on “horse whisperer” Monty Roberts, who changed the world of horse training with non-violent methods.

Smoot’s love for wildlife spreads outside of the newsroom: She is the proud adopter of a true American Mustang named Mustang Dream, as well as a greyhound named Karma and a cat named Bo. On the broadcast, she hinted that her next chapter would incorporate her passion for animals.

She thanked her co-workers, bosses and the loyal viewers.

“It has really been my privilege and pleasure to work in such a legendary TV station with such dedicated and talented people,” she said.