Sheryl Underwood is breaking her silence after CBS announced that Sharon Osbourne’s exit from “The Talk” in the wake of the co-hosts’ heated discussion on racism last month.
As People reports, Underwood addressed the fraught situation in a three-part series on her podcast, titled “Sharon Walks Away” (part two can be heard here, and part three here).
According to Underwood, she and Osbourne haven’t spoken since their on-air confrontation on March 10, when Underwood challenged Osbourne’s support of Piers Morgan after comments he made about Meghan Markle on “Good Morning Britain” drew complaints from numerous viewers who found them racist.
RELATED: Sharon Osbourne Exits ‘The Talk’ Following Controversy
Underwood confirmed that Osbourne had not reached out to her personally to apologize (a rep for Osbourne, however, previously told People that Osbourne had tried to contact Underwood.)
In her podcast, Underwood admitted that she was concerned the conversation could take an unfortunate turn, but felt it was still an important discussion to have.
“In my gut, I thought this was going to go left,” she said. “And so I wanted to put it in its proper order, be very calm, but there were a few people that criticized me on that — ‘Why do you give any f**k about somebody’s feelings? They give no f**ks about yours.’ It’s not about the reaction of the person, it’s about me and who I’m trying to evolve and mature to be.”
According to Underwood, she and Osbourne hit it off as soon as she joined the show, but admitted she’d “heard things” about the former “AGT” judge.
“I automatically just fell in love with her because I just like her. And I heard things and I was like, ‘They got nothing to do with me.’ My thing is I’m going to get to know you first,” Underwood explained.
“I had heard things, and I got phone calls of this and that and so what I said to those people, I said, ‘Thank you for the information.’ Because listen, in this business you’ve got all types of personalities, right?” she added.
RELATED: Sheryl Underwood, Sharon Osbourne Discuss Racism On Wednesday’s ‘The Talk’
While Underwood admitted she regretted what took place, she now views it as inevitable.
“Sometimes in life, something happens and you go, ‘Gosh, if I just would’ve…’ There’s nothing I could have ‘just would’ve’ — this was going to happen, out of my control,” she said. “Sometimes you don’t want to know what you know, you don’t want to feel and hear what you feel and hear, don’t want to accept what you have to accept.”
Despite everything, she added, “I still love the Osbournes, from what I’ve known of them. I don’t know anything other than what I’ve experienced with them, and this thing that has happened is disappointing to me. And maybe people don’t want to hear me say, ‘I still love the Osbournes.’ I’m not saying I liked being treated the way I was treated. I’m very disappointed. And I’m just trying to navigate my feelings about that because it was a trauma.”
“The Talk” airs weekdays at 2 p.m. ET on Global.
