Despite not having taken on portraying any fictional characters in the past 20+ years, Suzanne Somers will forever remain TV royalty thanks to her starring roles across two sitcom eras in the hilariously bawdy Three’s Company and the beloved TGIF hit Step by Step. (Not to mention her being the face and titular thighs behind the Thighmaster and its offshoots.) As it turns out, there was a moment in time when TV audiences could have theoretically seen Somers gabbing it up with Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and others on the set of The View. But as it was explained in a new interview, she actually turned down the gig for a pair of justifiable and relatable reasons.
Appearing on the latest episode of the podcast Behind the Velvet Rope, Somers talked with host David Yontef about a wide array of topics tied to her career, from being good buddies with Friends vet Courteney Cox to wanting to potentially team up with Kim Kardashian for some Buttmaster love. When asked about potentially bringing her entrepreneurial expertise to the core squad on Shark Tank, Somers brought up the fact that she was asked to join The View’s panel early on, and explained why she said nope.
You know I was originally asked to be on the original View, with Barbara Walters and whoever else, and I turned it down. Everyone said, 'Why would you turn that down? It's a national show.’ I said, ‘First of all, I'd have to live in New York and I don't want to live in New York. I like the weather down here, and I like the vibe down here.’
Her first reason makes a lot of sense. As Ryan Seacrest and few others can attest, going back and forth between New York and Los Angeles for a job can be extremely tiring and stressful, especially if it’s happening for years on end. Not that Somers brought up cross-country traveling, but that would presumably have been the only way she’d have done it, since she likely won’t ever pull up and exit California completely. You just can’t duplicate those particular vibes in the Northeast.
Even beyond the location aspect, Suzanne Somers also wasn’t interested in signing on for The View because the show’s tone and approach don’t really jibe with her energy. In her words:
Then I said, ‘But secondly, I don't do well vying for time.’ And The View, you gotta interrupt and butt in and butt out. It's just not my personality. So I walked away from that and I’ve never looked back.
Pretty much anyone who has ever sat down to watch The View has witnessed a moment in which everyone on stage starts reacting loudly to something, and it becomes nearly impossible to understand any one specific point. Now, can anyone imagine Suzanne Somers being part of that group, having to holler out aggressively in order to make herself heard? I know I can’t.
The View has developed a long-standing reputation for being a difficult place to work for certain people, with two-time panelist Rosie O’Donnell speaking her mind recently about why she was so unhappy during both stints, and why she never wants to return. Those comments inspired a similar reaction from Meghan McCain, who also alleged that even beyond interpersonal differences, certain news topics would be off the table for discussion due to how producers and/or Whoopi Goldberg herself felt about them. All in all, it’s probably better for Somers’ stress levels that she turned the gig down and kept down her own career path.
And for everyone interested in exactly how she felt about potentially popping up on Shark Tank, she answered with:
Maybe. I’m usually a one-man band, but we could figure out something for me.
This might not be the timeliest point to rehash when Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran had to apologize for making a fat joke about current The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg, but it seems relevant enough. Especially with co-host Sunny Hostin's recent comments about taking flak from Goldberg for parroting the moderator's own fart admissions. Suzanna Somers doesn't need that kind of non-non-drama, either.
