A 'Triumphant Return'? Original 'The View' Cohost Debbie Matenopoulos May Replace Meghan McCain
They may be bringing back an OG! After Meghan McCain surprised viewers by announcing that she was leaving The View behind, ABC is reportedly eyeing original cohost Debbie Matenopoulos to fill the vacant seat.
A source close to the talk show told the Daily Mail, "Next year is our 25th season and we're considering Debbie Matenopoulos making a triumphant return to The View.
"While we need to fill the seat that Meghan has vacated, there may be another change coming that we need to plan for. But Debbie would be the perfect fit for our anniversary season," the source said about the 46-year-old lifestyle expert.
A wide-eyed Matenopoulos was only 21 years old when Barbra Walters hired her for the show's first season back in 1997 to sit alongside experienced media personalities like Meredith Vieira, Star Jones and Joy Behar.
Although the young talk show host struggled to keep up with the intense political topics that the show was focusing on, due to her age, she later blossomed into a dynamic media personality who has worked for shows like Entertainment Tonight and The Home and Family Show on the Hallmark network. She most recently cohosted at the CBS show The Talk.
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"Debbie's recent guest co-hosting of The Talk has not gone unnoticed at ABC and it would make sense to scoop her up. Debbie got such a raw deal when she was cast 24 years ago — she was only 21 and had no real-life experience. Yet over the past 20 plus years she has blossomed, she's married, has a child, is a successful television host and she now could hold her own at The View's table, day after day," the source divulged.
Although her original run ended in a not-so ideal way, the team at The View have always known that the blonde beauty was a star. "Ratings struggled in those first two years that Debbie was at The View, but SNL took notice of the dynamic between Debbie and the other women and their The View skits became must viewing on Saturday nights. SNL's audience would then take a peek at The View to see Debbie and the other ladies in action on the show and The View's audience began to grow."
Although it will be a big job for Matenopoulos to hold her own against the all-star team of Whoopi Goldberg, Behar, Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines, the source said the network thinks that she is more than ready for the challenge.
"It would be a great blast from the past and Debbie certainly has the experience and wit to return to the table and reclaim her seat," the source stated.
In a statement regarding the rumors, Matenopoulos's representative stated, "Debbie will always have a fond place in her heart for The View, the show that launched her career as a 21-year-old straight out of NYU. Her rep has in fact been having conversations with senior executives at ABC News over the past few months about many things, including her participation in celebrating the 25th season of The View, and she appreciates all the interest in her returning. Currently, she is in development on two food shows and her own lifestyle show, but she’d never say never to returning to her first television home."
