Returning to The View is not in Jenny McCarthy’s future, that’s for sure.
“They’ve asked me to come back for, like, reunion shows,” McCarthy, 53, said during Us Weekly’s exclusive clip from “The Katie Miller Podcast,” which drops on Tuesday, January 6. “I was like, over my dead body would I ever step foot in that place.”
McCarthy explained that she was hired on The View in 2013 because the show was “too polarizing” at that point in time. So they brought her on for the “light and fluffy and fun” portion of the show, hoping that McCarthy would discuss reality TV like Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor.
“Well, that lasted a week,” she continued. “Back then, I didn’t consider myself to be a political person, which is why I thought I was perfect for the job.”
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Then, they “wanted to get political” and McCarthy was like a deer in headlights.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do?’” she recalled. “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 on Dancing With the Stars.’ Getting through that year was really difficult.”
McCarthy continued, “I’m much more political now, in terms of having opinions, because of — thank God — our latest administration has helped so much. But back then, oh, yeah, I would not … I would never even.”
McCarthy’s one-season stint on The View had her cohosting the show alongside Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd. (McCarthy’s first and only season came after the departure of Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar.)
The actress recalled leaving the show during a July 2025 appearance on SiriusXM’s “Radio Andy” with Andy Cohen.
“They let all of us go,” she recalled, noting that she was begging to be fired. “What wound up happening was they came into the offices and Sherri came crying into my dressing room saying, ‘I was just let go.’”
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McCarthy remembered thinking, “I don’t even want to f***ing be here,” and wondered why it was Shepherd over her. However, as the day continued, several producers were let go as well.
“Then I get the phone call. I was like last to get the phone call from my agent. He’s like, ‘You’re next.’ I’m like, ‘Thank God.’ It was a massacre,” McCarthy said. “They got rid of a bunch of people.”
McCarthy and Shepherd eventually had to share the news of their departure with The View watchers. McCarthy also noted that the entire experience made her “very close” with Shepherd.
“We could be sisters,” she said. “Sherri and I had each other’s backs. We would cry on each other’s shoulders. We would have each other’s backs if we were being attacked out there.”
McCarthy continued. “We had bruises on our knees from grabbing each other under the table. Like, ‘It’s OK. It’s OK. It’s OK. Hold on tight.’”
