The View is a show with an ever-changing lineup of panelists, though some of them make more waves while they are on the air than others. In recent years, Megan McCain was a high-profile personality on the daytime TV series until around this time last year, when the conservative host explained why she would be leaving The View after roughly four years. In the time since, the show has pulled a bit of a Jeopardy with the slot, trying out a rotating myriad of hosts to fill the conservative position.
After Meghan McCain’s exit, The View tried on a varying list of guest hosts to fill her slot, starting with names like Mia Love, Gretchen Carlson, Eboni K. Williams, S.E. Cupp, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Mary Katherine Ham, Cameran Eubanks, Tara Setmayer and Carly Fiorina early on. Now, however, after The View hit its 25th anniversary on the air, the show is apparently looking for a more permanent replacement with a conservative bent – and soon.
An insider close to the production notes the current season of The View is set to end on August 5, and if all goes according to plan, fans should learn about the new permanent host before then. That insider noted to the NY Post:
You are starting to see familiar faces over and over. I would expect an announcement before the season ends on August 5. If you watch the show, you can see people who are coming back regularly to join the co-hosts at the table. It is an invaluable experience for the show. And it was always the plan to make sure they had a seat at the table.
Insofar as the current crop of guest hosts goes, two have been filling the conservative seat more and more often on The View in recent months. This includes the aforementioned Alyssa Farah Griffin and Tara Setmayer. The former name was a communications director for Donald Trump at one point. The latter also worked as a communications director, but for the GOP, as well as a former political commentator at places like CNN and ABC News. Interestingly, Setmayer was a conservative critic of Trump during his tenure as President, whereas Griffin worked for him but later resigned from her role and has been critical of Trump in the time since.
The 26th season won’t pick up until after Labor Day, but if this timeline is followed to a tee – which obviously isn’t confirmed at this point – we should have a brand new host filling out the panel more permanently. If the rest of the ladies stick around, that person will join Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Sarah Haines for Season 26.
The news comes after Meghan McCain made waves during her tenure on The View, ultimately even departing after the rumor mill indicated she and Whoopi Goldberg allegedly could not get along. McCain later spoke out to say the show had “demonized” her due to her political idealogy during her time on air. The View has tried to keep at least one personality with more conservative views during its run, though original host Debbie Matenopoulos has said the show was never supposed to "be political."
Interestingly, another former host, Meredith Vieira, just opened up about her tenure on the show, which lasted for nearly a decade between 1997 and 2006. That host, however, has made it very clear she would never return to the series, saying “I kind of did my time” in relation to the show. Clearly, while some former personalities seem happy to have moved on, there are new names willing to give the daytime talk show a shot, and we’ll just have to wait and see who fills that final chair when the new season gets rolling.
