Will she stay or will she go? It’s beginning to sound like a broken record at ABC’s chatfest “The View.” Seriously, didn’t we just play this game a few months ago with someone named Star Jones Reynolds (you remember that debacle)? Yet just three months into her year-long contract there are published rumors that Rosie wants out (or should I say off the table that she shares with co-hosts Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, and the show’s creator, Barbara Walters).
If you tuned into yesterday’s show (I did, though it was pre-empted by a presidential news conference about five minutes after the opening credits rolled) you would had seen O’Donnell trying to shoot down the rumors that at this point are becoming more than just a whisper. During Thursday’s show, O’Donnell said she had answered an audience member’s question during a commercial break the day before and mentioned how she would like to work on FX’s “Nip/Tuck.” But, she quickly added that the show films during the summer when “The View” is on vacation break so it would not interfere with her “day job.”
“Don’t anybody worry where Rosie’s going,” O’Donnell said. “She’s right here.”
However, according to TV’s “Entertainment Tonight,” O’Donnell neglected to deny that she would be leaving “The View” when her contract is up in September. I also saw an interview Barbara Walters did with another entertainment magazine show in which she also would not deny the rumors; rather she merely made the statement that it seemed the show couldn’t go a week without grabbing headlines of some sort. (Most recently it was actor Danny DeVito’s “colorful” appearance on the show after he spent the night drinking with pal George Clooney).
I’m sure Walters is crossing her fingers hoping that O’Donnell will stay considering the show has yet to find a replacement for Jones Reynolds who has been gone for almost a year now. Being down two co-hosts certainly wouldn’t bode well for the show. What’s more, O’Donnell’s presence has been a shot in the arm for “The View,” which according to Nielsen Media Research, has seen record ratings since the actress/activist/Emmy-winning talk show host came aboard.
Personally, I don’t think O’Donnell will leave before her contract is up. Of course, I said that about Jones Reynolds too… What do you think?
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