'The View' Newbie Alyssa Farah Griffin Appears 'Carefree' On Set During Sunny Hostin's Absence
Alyssa Farah Griffin was able to take a break from on-air tensions when her panelist rival Sunny Hostin was absent from the Thursday, January 19, episode of The View.
The pair, who have fairly different political leanings, often go toe-to-toe on the hit chat-fest, occasionally leading to nerves and awkwardness behind the scenes.
"The atmosphere on set was a lot less tense with Sunny gone," a source spilled of the renewed energy from the conservative cohost. "Alyssa seemed a lot more carefree and happy during commercial breaks."
"She was mostly joking and talking to guest host Rachel Lindsay, but she did have moments where she was enjoying conversations with Sara [Haines] and Joy [Behar] too," the source continued. "Alyssa usually spends her breaks on her phone while her co-hosts are in conversation."
As OK! previously reported, Griffin has often been spotted buried in her text messages or being left out of cast chitchat on commercial breaks during tapings of The View. On Thursday, October 6, eyewitnesses on set claimed the former White House aide largely kept to herself instead joining in on conversation with the group.
"During commercial breaks between Hot Topics segments, Alyssa was mainly on her phone while the other women spoke to each other," the source dished at the time. "[She] just stood there awkwardly, as she waited for one of her costars to include her."
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Another apparent snub occurred a month prior at a September taping. When the show cut to commercial, Hostin allegedly turned away from Griffin as the other women all turned towards Whoopi Goldberg to talk.
Added the source, "Alyssa stared at the women as they were in conversation, but she eventually went on her phone and chatted with her makeup artist."
The source spoke with The Sun on Griffin appearing more relaxed amid Hostin's absence.