The View has actually only gone through ten co-hosts since ABC’s morning program began airing in 1997. That’s some fairly decent consistency from year end and year out, but unfortunately, that will all be changing very soon. On Thursday, Joy Behar announced she was leaving the daytime talk show and on Friday, rumors began circulating that Elisabeth Hasselbeck will be leaving the program, as well.
Behar’s not leaving The View anytime soon. Instead, the co-host’s contract ends in August and Behar has simply decided not to renew it. According to Deadline, the careerwoman has some other plans in the cards, potentially even including a solo interview show. It’s hard to blame her for wanting to give different sorts of programming a shot, especially since she’s been hosting The View for more than 16 years. However, she will be missed. Interestingly, when Behar does eventually leave The View next fall, Barbara Walters will be the last remaining original host on the program, and that’s if Walters decides to stick around.
On Friday, rumors began to abound that Hasselbeck, who has co-hosted the program for nine years, will also be leaving ABC’s show. US Weekly first reported the news, although ABC is currently denying the charge, stating Hasselbeck is under a long-term contract. If this rumor pans out as well, losing two hosts in one short frame of time might mean big changes for The View. One thing is for certain: it should be hard for anyone to fill Behar and Hasselbeck’s shoes.
