Jenny McCarthy Says Never

Jenny McCarthy says she has no plans to return to The View. Speaking on The Katie Miller Podcast, the 53-year-old revealed she’s been asked to join reunion appearances but flatly refused, saying, “Over my dead body would I ever step foot in that place.”

McCarthy joined the long-running ABC talk show in 2013 during a particularly turbulent period, when producers were attempting to soften the program’s increasingly political tone. According to the actress and television personality, she was hired to inject levity—focusing on pop culture staples such as Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor—rather than hard news or policy debates. That plan, she explained, unraveled almost immediately as the show leaned back into political discussions, an arena she felt unprepared to navigate at the time.

Her single season placed her at the table with television icons including Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd, following the exits of Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar. Behind the scenes, however, McCarthy has consistently described the year as professionally bruising and emotionally exhausting.

That chapter came to an abrupt end when ABC opted for a sweeping overhaul. McCarthy revisited the moment during a July 2025 appearance on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, hosted by Andy Cohen, recalling a day marked by cascading dismissals that extended beyond the on-air panel to include multiple producers. McCarthy and Shepherd ultimately delivered the news of their departures together, an experience that forged a lasting bond between the two women.

Despite her rocky tenure, McCarthy has acknowledged that the experience shaped her evolution as a public figure, noting that she has since become more comfortable forming and expressing political opinions. Still, she maintains that the atmosphere of The View during her run was not the right fit—a sentiment underscored by her refusal to revisit the show, even for nostalgia-driven specials.

The talk show itself has weathered numerous cast changes since its 1997 debut under Walters’ stewardship, with past cohosts such as Meredith Vieira helping to define earlier eras of the franchise. For McCarthy, however, the legacy of her season remains intensely personal—and firmly in the past.