It's official! Jenny McCarthy will be joining "The View" as co0-host for the 17th season beginning in September. Barbara Walters made the announcement on Monday's show even though she said that a co-host wasn't going to be announced anytime soon.
The announcement comes just days after Elisabeth Hasselback made an abrupt departure from the show to Fox News. Also leaving is Joy Behar and founding co-host Barbara Walters. McCarthy has appeared on the show 17 times, including eight as a guest host, the Daily Mail reports.
"Jenny brings us intelligence as well as warmth and humor," Walters said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. "She can be serious and outrageous. She has connected with our audience and offers a fresh point of view. Jenny will be a great addition to the show as we usher in an exciting new chapter for 'The View.'"
"I'm beyond thrilled... I look forward to helping make hot topics a little hotter, and showing my mom that my interrupting skills have finally paid off," McCarthy added.
According to the LA Times, McCarthy will be replacing Behar, who will also be leaving. There has been no word on who will be replacing Hasselback. The news of Hasselback's abrupt departure came just months after it was rumored that she was being fired. In the host's tearful goodbye she thanked the crew before talking about each one of her fellow hosts, the Daily Beast reports.
She said Whoopi Goldberg was "one of the most talented artists on this planet." She thanked Joy Behar for also being to "throw a one-liner" that would make her laugh and she called Sherri shepherd, who was absent, her "sister in Christ." When she got to Barbara Walters she thanked the esteemed journalist for preparing her for the next chapter she is about to start.
"I feel more than prepared at this point because of all you have given to me, more than prepared and confident to move forward," she concluded.
The new season of "The View" is scheduled to begin Sept. 9.
