Sherri Shepherd Reveals How She Felt About Leaving ‘The View’
Sherri Shepherd was a victim of The View‘s massive overhaul at the end of last season, which saw hers and Jenny McCarthy dismissed from the program. Unlike her colleague McCarthy, who spent only one season as part of the morning show roundtable, Shepherd had called the program home for seven years. Speaking last week to Uptown Magazine, the comedienne and actor revealed her feelings about the shake-up.
“Leaving The View was bittersweet, exciting and scary. Seven years I was there and the cast and crew became a family to me. They embraced me when I moved to New York City not knowing anyone.”
As Uptown notes, Shepherd was not lacking for work upon her View departure. She starred in a Broadway version of Cinderella and recently completed work on two films. Her turn in Cinderella was noted by McCarthy, who tweeted out her support to her friend on Friday.
Just saw Cinderella on Broadway staring the adorable @SherriEShepherd She was amazing! pic.twitter.com/C3XIQZzxbq
— Jenny McCarthy (@JennyMcCarthy) November 15, 2014
Apparently, the now Mrs. Donnie Wahlberg — McCarthy — is not the only friend Shepherd has retained from her time at The View. She also expressed to Uptown her admiration for Barbara Walters, whose retirement was another part of the major changes on the program.
“Barbara Walters pushed me past my limits and challenged me. Every single day for about three years, I would go into my dressing room and cry because I felt I did not belong at that table. But her pushing me brought out a confidence where I could sit at that table and say ‘No. Let me finish.’ Barbara came to respect me, and if you ask her she will say, ‘Sherri always did her research, was always prepared and was the co-host who’d grown the most.'”
Even though Shepherd has clearly moved on from The View, there are recent rumors reported by Dateline that she and Joy Behar may be coaxed back to the show. The revamped View has not been a ratings smash, and the network bigwigs are apparently contemplating a return to the old guard. This news comes as Shepherd has booked an early December appearance on The Talk, the View rival that airs on CBS. Behar returned home to The View earlier this month to promote her latest project, a one-woman show.
Shepherd also told Uptown that the public wrongly believes she is judgmental as a result of her time on The View, but she says that was merely her public persona.
“People got mad at me because I gave such strong opinions on The View but that’s what I got paid to do. If I sat at The View table and didn’t give an opinion I would have been fired. In my personal life, I keep my opinions to myself. I don’t give advice about relationships unless you ask me, and then you’d still be wise to get a second opinion, because really, what do I know?”
Sherri Shepherd will appear on The Talk on December 1st.
