Well, would you look at this.
Rosie O’Donnell says she’s ready to walk back onto the set of The View—the very show where some of her most memorable television battles played out—and she’s willing to do it in whatever role the producers have in mind.
Now, here’s the thing. That doesn’t mean she’s actually been invited.
Speaking Monday on Tangle With Kyle Ridley, O’Donnell said she’d happily take part in the program’s upcoming 30th anniversary celebrations if asked.
“I will go on the 30th anniversary next year and be on in whatever way they want me, just as a guest,” she said. “They’re bringing back all the hosts, I think, for the 30th season.”
She also reflected on the show’s evolution over the years.
“I’m proud of that show and what it’s become and how it really speaks to people and to politics,” O’Donnell said. “And that was not the case when I first joined.”
If you’ve followed The View over the years, you know O’Donnell’s history there was anything but quiet.
She co-hosted during Seasons 10 and 18, but both runs ended amid highly publicized conflicts. Her first departure in 2007 came after a heated on-air confrontation with Elisabeth Hasselbeck that instantly became one of the most famous arguments in daytime television.
Then there was her second stint.
That one featured a much-discussed working relationship with Whoopi Goldberg.
“When I was there last, I had sort of a tense time with Whoopi,” O’Donnell acknowledged.
Now, stay with me, because her explanation was surprisingly candid.
O’Donnell made it clear she entered the show expecting a partnership built on mutual respect.
“I admire her, wanted to be on her team,” she said of Goldberg. “I admire her EGOT status. I have respect for her.”
She even reached for a basketball comparison.
“I expected we would be like Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan passing the ball back and forth and then shooting and leading the team to victory.”
Then came the punchline.
“But that’s not exactly what happened.”
O’Donnell said she believes Goldberg may have viewed her as an intrusion, although she insists that was never her intention.
“I think maybe she felt encroached upon in some way, and I was never trying to encroach,” she explained. “I was just doing it the way that I knew how to do it, and it didn’t go so well.”
The good news, according to O’Donnell, is that whatever tension existed years ago has faded.
“We’ve gotten past it,” she said.
But before anyone starts expecting a reunion episode, there’s an important reality check.
Later Monday, a representative for O’Donnell told Entertainment Weekly that no formal invitation has actually been extended.
“There was a mention of inviting some of the hosts back to The View as a guest during season 30,” the representative said. “There has not been a formal ask from the show at this time.”
So at the moment, this remains more of an open invitation from O’Donnell than a confirmed television appearance.
She also used the podcast to revisit some of her frustrations with the program’s backstage culture during her years there.
“It was a factory where people were being churned in and out and their tenuous security, nobody got to be calm,” she said, referring to the period when the late executive producer Bill Geddie oversaw the show.
O’Donnell also questioned the show’s leadership structure.
“It also was a show at the time that was run by a man. A show created by a woman, for women, about women, and the man was deciding what we should talk about. And that didn’t sit right with me.”
Whether producers ultimately invite her back remains to be seen.
