Jenny McCarthy is making it crystal clear she has absolutely zero interest in ever returning to The View — and wow, she is NOT mincing words about it!
The former cohost, who only lasted one very memorable season on the daytime talk show from 2013 to 2014, just spilled all the tea on the Katie Miller Podcast, and the vibes are very much burned bridge, salted earth, never again.
Related: Jenny Says She Almost DIED From Going Vegan!
While chatting on the podcast this week, Jenny reflected on that short-lived stint and reminded everyone that her role on the show was never supposed to be about politics in the first place. At all.
According to her, the whole reason she was brought in was to lighten things up and focus on pop culture, celebrity nonsense, and fun chatter. You know, the stuff she actually knows and enjoys. As she explained, that was the pitch given to her at the time:
“The reason why they wanted to bring me on is because they, ‘said it was too polarizing.’ They thought it was too polarizing back then, you guys.”
But if you remember that era of The View, you already know that promise did not exactly last. And Jenny confirmed it herself, admitting the show pivoted almost immediately after she joined the panel. What she thought would be a gig full of fluff turned into something way heavier, way faster than she expected:
“Well, that lasted a week. That lasted a whole week. And back then, I didn’t consider myself to be a political person, which is why I thought I was perfect for the job. After a week, when they said they wanted to get political, I was like, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do?’”
Jenny went on to describe just how out of her depth she felt once the topics turned serious. Instead of chatting about red carpets and reality TV, she suddenly found herself expected to weigh in on intense global issues. And she was not shy about how uncomfortable that made her:
“They’re like, ‘Today we’re going to be discussing the hostage situation and whether the United States government should pay the ransom or not. And I was like, ‘What?’ I’m like, ‘I just know who won Dancing with the Stars.’ So getting through that year was really difficult.”
These days, Jenny says she’s actually much more political than she was back then, even crediting Donald Trump‘s current administration for giving her more confidence to speak her mind on those topics.
But before anyone gets the idea that she might now be ready for a comeback on The View, she shut that down hard. Like, scorched-earth hard. She said:
“Oh, I would not, I would never, even if [the show] asked me to come back for, like, reunion shows. I was like, over my dead body would I ever step foot in that place.”
Yikes!!!
Case CLOSED!
Related: Jenny Reveals The Shocking Places She & Hubby Donnie Wahlberg Do The Nasty!
Oh, and in case anyone thought Jenny was exaggerating or rewriting history, her former cohost Sherri Shepherd just came through with a major co-sign, too.
On her own talk show on Thursday, Sherri backed up Jenny’s version of events and even recalled the exact moment the tone of The View shifted. Sherri said:
“It’s no secret Jenny McCarthy hated being on The View. I remember the day they switched it to politics, Jenny came into my dressing room just like that. She goes, ‘Sherri, oh my God, what am I gonna do?’ And I looked at her, I said, ‘What are you gonna do? What are we gonna do!’”
Sherri didn’t stop there, making it clear that Jenny’s frustration was totally valid and shared by others behind the scenes:
“Everything that Jenny is saying is absolutely true. … I felt really bad for my friend, because they did — they brought her on the show after a lot of focus groups said they wanted less fighting about politics. They wanted it to be more chill and more fun.”
Both Sherri and Jenny ultimately exited The View in 2014 following Barbara Walters’ departure.
Now, judging by Jenny’s latest comments, there is absolutely no scenario where she’d ever go back. Reunion, guest spot, nostalgia tour? Not happening. Consider that chapter 100% finished.
Watch Jenny’s full interview (below):
And see Sherri’s take on it, too:
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[Image via The View/YouTube]