‘The View’ Staff ‘Stressed Out’ After Paula Faris And Sara Haines Departures, Per ‘Closer Weekly’
ABC’s daytime talk show The View has been making headlines this summer for all the wrong reasons: two of the show’s co-hosts, Paula Faris and Sara Haines, both announced they would not be returning to the series for this fall’s Season 22.
On July 18, Faris revealed she was leaving The View after three years with the program, and also her weekend co-anchor role on Good Morning America, to spend more time with her family, as previously reported by Inquisitr. Caroline, Landon, and JJ’s mother had experienced a “rough year health-wise” after suffering a “tough” miscarriage.
She will, however, remain with ABC News, focusing on reporting and breaking news, and will be starting a brand-new podcast about faith.
A few days later, on July 23, Haines explained that she was leaving The View after two years to co-host ABC’s new third hour of Good Morning America with Michael Strahan, GMA Day, which is slated to debut on September 10.
“I never thought in a million years I would be leaving one dream job for another dream job,” she said during her tearful goodbye, Inquisitr reported.
The View has gone through 21 co-hosts since it debuted on ABC in 1997, and the majority of those changes happened just within the last five years.
That’s a wrap on Season 21 of @theviewabc – it was a good one! @WhoopiGoldberg @sarahaines @JoyVBehar @sunny @MeghanMcCain @candincarter pic.twitter.com/gC83o9PqqJ
— Brian Teta (@Brianteta) August 3, 2018
“Everyone is stressed out,” a behind-the-scenes insider told Closer Weekly. “They’re happy for Sara and Paula, but they’re stressed out about who will replace them — and if their jobs are safe.”
When veteran broadcast journalist Barbara Walters created the show, it was groundbreaking and innovative. Since then, other television programs have copied its format and then added in unique elements to score more viewers and higher ratings.
Even though the series has won more than 30 Daytime Emmy Awards during its 21 years on air, at this year’s ceremony, held on April 29, its two main competitors, The Talk and The Real, took home the top honors in the categories the show was nominated in.
The Talk won the Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment trophy, and Adrienne Houghton, Loni Love, Jeannie Mai, and Tamera Mowry-Housley won for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host.
So, who will be joining Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Meghan McCarin at The View table next month?
The source for Closer Weekly told the magazine that the producers are allegedly considering frequent guest co-host Ana Navarro and former E! News co-host Catt Sadler.
In July, a Deadline source said Abby Huntsman from Fox & Friends was high on ABC’s wish list.
No word yet as to when ABC will make a decision about next season’s new co-host or two, but the Closer insider said that The View will also “probably get a new theme song, [and] a new set, but the format and the hot topics won’t change. They’re always going to do what they do best — unite some people and really upset others.”
