It’s been more than six years since Rosie O’Donnell left The View after a tumultuous (and highly rated) single season, but the onetime cohost will be returning to her former talk show in February.
The news of Rosie’s upcoming appearance on the show — her first since leaving in 2007 — came in an announcement from The View“s executive producers Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie. “I have great affection for Rosie and we have remained in contact through the years,”; said Barbara in a statement. “I am happy to welcome her back to the program. She is always a lively and engaging guest and a part of the show’s successful history.”;
During her year on the show, Rosie famously feuded with Donald Trump and cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck, with Rosie’s liberal views constantly clashing with Elisabeth’s knee-jerk conservatism. In addition, rumour has it there is still a lot of bad blood between Rosie and Barbara — which was fueled by a 2008 interview in which Rosie admitted working on the show wasn’t exactly a lovefest. “I’m not saying they loathe each other,”; she said of her former cohosts, including Barbara, “but the fact of the matter is, there was not a lot of camaraderie off camera.”
Barbara subsequently responded, without mentioning Rosie specifically, that “there are some people who have done this show and then, for years, feel they have to dump on it. Maybe for their own publicity. And that not only hurts me, but I resent it.”;
Expect a lively episode when Rosie returns to The View on Friday, Feb. 7.