Barbara Walters will be retiring in 2014.
The talk show host hasn’t officially announced her retirement but a source familiar with the situation said that Walters has made her decision and will make her announcement this May.
The View has undergone a lot of staffing changes recently. Joy Behar recently announced that she was leaving the long-running show and there have been persistent rumors that Elisabeth Hasselbeck would soon be shown the door .
Walters, now 83, missed a few episodes of The View this year after she was hospitalized with the chicken pox . The NY Times notes that Walters, who had a successful heart bypass operation in 2010, has been limiting her activities in recent years. She’s remained active on The View but has already stepped down from programs like 20/20.
According to Deadline , ABC is planning to give Walters a huge sendoff worth of her trailblazing career. Walters will reportedly film her last show in May, 2014, after a week or two of specials and retrospectives.
Walters was a pioneer for female journalists. She became the first woman to co-host a news program when she sat behind the desk at Today and the first woman to anchor an evening news program with ABC Evening News. Walters also hosted 20/20 for 20 years.
Walters created The View back in 1997 and serves as one of the show’s executive producers.
Walters has three Daytime Emmy Awards for The View and one for 20/20. She also has an Emmy for The Barbara Walters Summer Special in 1983 and was given the lifetime achievement award in 2000.
Are you surprised that Barbara Walters is retiring?
