Nicolle Wallace enters the 'No Spin Zone'
The View co-host on her career in politics and her new book
Nicolle Wallace will be signing off from “The View” for good, after she turned down an offer from ABC to appear on the morning talk show as an occasional contributor in the fall, Variety has learned.
She’s expected to say goodbye on one of the final remaining shows before “The View’s” summer hiatus, which starts next week.
“Our friend Nicolle Wallace is going to leave the show at the conclusion of the season,” executive Bill Wolff will tell the staff in a note that will go out later today. “Having worked with her for most of the last year, you know the warmth, smarts, and professionalism she has brought to the job every day. She will always be a friend of our show, and I know you join me in wishing her only the best.”
Wallace was the conservative co-host on “The View” for season 18, and she impressed staffers by projecting a low-key vibe at the Hot Topics table opposite Whoopi Goldberg (who became a good friend), Rosie O’Donnell (who left in February) and Rosie Perez. But over the summer, as ratings for “The View” continued to plummet (down 16 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2014), ABC executives hatched a plan to oust Wallace and Perez from their co-host seats, which caused an acrimonious divide between the show’s talent and network bosses from ABC News, the division that now oversees “The View.”
ABC then asked Wallace to consider a smaller job on “The View” as a rotating co-host, but she passed on that offer, according to sources with knowledge of the talks. She also won’t be continuing as a pundit for ABC News. Wallace recently renewed her contract as a contributor for MSNBC, where she frequently appears on “Morning Joe.”
ABC is eager to close the book on the current season of “The View,” as network bosses continue to talk about changes behind the camera. “The View” is already starting to take on more of a “Good Morning America” feel with flash sales (where stylist Stacy London pedals jewelry and knives) as well as taped segments like the one this week where two co-hosts attended “GMA’s” One Direction concert and offered a produced video of their interactions with fans.
“The View” will relaunch in September with a new panel that includes Goldberg, Raven-Symone, Michelle Collins, “GMA Weekend” anchor Paula Faris and Candace Cameron Bure, who will be the resident conservative. But because some of the new co-hosts will be juggling multiple jobs (Cameron Bure is shooting Netflix’s “Fuller House” in Los Angeles through the end of the year), the show is also relying on a revolving group of substitute co-hosts, such as Sherri Shepherd and Molly Sims, to fill in.
Joy Behar was also offered one of these jobs, but like Wallace she turned it down.
Trending
Who's making headlines in television, music, movies and more from Hollywood to the Heartland.