9:11 AM PDT 7/10/2014 by The Hollywood Reporter Staff
The former panelist will be back for season 18.
After days of rumors, The View made it official shortly after noon Thursday, tweeting that Rosie O’Donnell would return as co-host for season 18 of the ABC daytime show.
The View‘s Twitter account posted the below announcement.
It’s official! ABC confirms Rosie O’Donnell returns as co-host of #TheView w/ moderator Whoopi Goldberg for Season 18pic.twitter.com/oRCAcxAZE5
— The View (@theviewtv) July 10, 2014
Just an hour earlier, Whoopi Goldberg told viewers she and the rest of the show’s cast and crew didn’t know who was coming in. O’Donnell, who was a panelist on The View for the 2007-2008 season, left after that one year.
O’Donnell had a notably stormy tenure on the show, often fighting with conservative panelist Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who suggested on Fox News on Wednesday that O’Donnell had been plotting her return to the show for “a very, very long time.”
Hasselbeck also claimed that Barbara Walters’ farewell episode on May 15 was effectively O’Donnell’s “hello show,” adding that O’Donnell produced the broadcast.
O’Donnell is the first new addition to the show’s panelists for season 18, following news that current panelists Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy would be leaving at the end of this season. Since Barbara Walters‘ retirement as View co-host in May, Whoopi Goldberg remains the only current co-host returning for next season.
READ MORE HERE AT THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER SITE.
