MOLLY Qerim showed some pride for her heritage with a new First Take outfit. With the Olympics kicking off, Qerim made sure to represent the country where her roots are from. Qerim wore a tight top that represented the Albanian flag ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony.
It is a lesser known fact that Qerim is Albanian, but she explained how her last name represents her heritage in a 2017 interview. "Yes. Yes.
The last name is Albanian," she told UConn Magazine . "I say 'CARE-um' but it’s really 'keh—REEM.' I think my mom felt like people wouldn’t be able to handle it, so she tried to sound it out in English.
Read more on First Take "Sometimes I feel like a bit of a sellout and wish I had stuck with the actual pronunciation, especially when Albanians or Muslims see my Americanized version." Qerim made sure fans knew where she is from on Thursday's episode of First Take , as he red and white top was clear as day. It bore the Albanian eagle from the nation's flag, and also had the word Albania written across it multiple times.
Qerim also posted the outfit to her Instagram Story for all of her fans to see. Most read in Olympics Fans were thrilled with the outfit and quickly took so social media to share their thoughts. "Molly Qerim is reppinnnnn omgggggggg," one fan said.
"Molly representing today!!" another fan said. "Molly you is so beautiful," a third fan said. "Albania women are elite I just peeped @MollyQerim fit today," a fourth fan said.
"Molly looks so gorgeous today," a fifth fan said. Qerim is back to hosting First Take after a long break, but is doing so without Stephen A. Smith .
First Take went from strength to strength under the guidance of Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim last year. The weekday ESPN debate show averaged 496,000 viewers in 2023 - making it the most-watched year in program history.
Its December average of 611,000 was a 24% year-on-year increase compared to 2022. The show also reported more than 250 million views on YouTube. First Take was helped by the addition of Shannon Sharpe alongside Smith and Qerim after he left Fox Sports' Undisputed.
Stephen A. returned to the show on Monday alongside Molly, but only featured on First Take for three days. He explained on Monday that he would only be in briefly before returning to vacation.
Read More on The US Sun "So I decided, let me take a break, from my break, to come in and break people's emotions and feelings," he added. "It's only gonna be a few days, then I'm disappearing again.".
