The View will be going into Season 24 this September, and, as even those who don't watch the daytime talk show will likely know, there have been many different co-hosts during its time on the air. And, as anyone who's had a job or two in their lives will also know, there are a number of reasons why someone could get fired. Well, former The View co-host Nicolle Wallace, who now anchors Deadline: White House on MSNBC, has just opened up about why she believes she was let go from the show after just one season in 2015.
While The View has had a number of journalists, as well as politically-minded actors and comedians as hosts during its nearly three decades on the air, there have also been a few political insiders to sit at the panel on a daily basis, and Nicolle Wallace is certainly one of those. It would be natural for you to think the conservative, who served as the White House Communications Director during George W. Bush's presidency and was also a senior advisor for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, would be a natural fit for the show, but, according to Wallace she may have been fired because the fit was too good.
When asked recently by the Los Angeles Times if she thought that her old stomping ground at ABC was a good place for deep conversations about political topics of the day, especially considering how contentious those debates sometimes get on-air, Wallace said:
Well, I think the problem was it wasn’t contentious that season I was on. Being fired from a TV show where you think you’re kind of baring your soul feels personal because it is. It’s like being broken up with. Because I never worked in entertainment I think what I didn’t understand is: It really was a casting, and it was a casting they didn’t like. I sought to make peace with Rosie O’Donnell and Rosie Perez. I had such a special friendship with Whoopi Goldberg.
Ah, well, this sort of adds a level of intrigue to all the attention-grabbing stuff that goes on behind the scenes at The View, doesn't it? You've probably heard it said that there's no such thing as bad publicity, and all of the on-camera arguments and backstage uproars which occur between the co-hosts and producers of the show could, absolutely, be seen that way. But, from what Nicolle Wallace believes anyway, she was actually fired because her season simply wasn't contentious enough.
It's no secret that The View generally populates its panel with one conservative (or mostly conservative) voice. But, while Nicolle Wallace did, in fact, have plenty of disagreements with her fellow co-hosts about political and social issues (and did try to make amends with the co-hosts she had a rougher time with), maybe those differences of thought didn't end up in the kind of fireworks that the producers were hoping for as the cameras rolled.
As mentioned, The View is known for drama on and off camera, and it's not unusual for hosts to get into some pretty serious arguments on the show, leading to some true cringe-worthy moments, not to mention those arguments leading to tension backstage or with producers. Hosts like Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar tend to downplay the controversies and rumors, and talk about the amazing chemistry that each set of hosts has in any given season, but there's no denying that the possibility of a stand-off of some sort probably helps to keep a lot of people tuning in.
As Wallace noted in her interview, even though the firing felt very personal because she was sharing important parts of her life on The View every day, ultimately the casting didn't work, so she was let go. But, luckily, it all turned out just fine for her.
The View is still set to return to ABC on September 8 (possibly with former co-host Sara Haines back on the panel full time), at 11 a.m. EST, but for more to watch in the coming weeks, check out our fall TV premiere schedule!
