Looks like ABC is getting closer to a new “View.”
The network is putting the finishing touches on a plan to remodel “The View” after a series of musical chairs among the co-hosts on the popular morning show.
Last week, co-host Michelle Collins was sent packing after a year on the show. And now published reports point to a new role for Sara Haines, currently an anchor on the weekend edition of “Good Morning America.”
Meanwhile, it looks as if Whoopi Goldberg – a fixture on “The View” since 2007 – will return for at least another year, after having told friends that she was looking to bail at the end of this season, sources familiar with the situation say.
For its part, ABC isn’t ready to spill anything.
“We’re lucky to have terrific and talented guest co-hosts fill in at the table and we include Sara Haines on that list,” an ABC spokeswoman wrote. “When we are ready to make to make an announcement about next season, we will.”
“The View” has been afflicted by nearly non-stop host changes in recent seasons.
Like Collins, Jenny McCarthy lasted for a single (and in McCarthy’s case, heavily criticized) season. Rosie Perez and Nicole Wallace left last year after briefly joining the panel.
ABC has not yet announced its intentions for two more current panelists, Raven-Symone and Candace Cameron Bure.
Joy Behar – who sat out two seasons earlier this decade – is the sole remaining co-host from the original incarnation of “The View” in 1997.