Jenny McCarthy had 'miserable' time on The View

21 March 2019

Jenny McCarthy had a "miserable" time hosting 'The View'.

Jenny McCarthy

The 46-year-old star didn't enjoy being on the panel of the daytime show from 2013-2014 because veteran host Barbara Walters, now 89, constantly scrutinised her appearance.

In an excerpt from Ramin Setoodeh's upcoming book, 'Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View' obtained by Vulture, Jenny said: "If she didn't agree with it, or it didn't complement her outfit, I had to change.

"Mind you, she doesn't look at anyone's clothes but mine. I'd go 'Barbara, you're wearing your own clothes.'... I always had to put on a sweater."

Jenny claims she had to change her outfit at least 50 times during her short stint on the show - and sometimes Barbara would insist on wearing the same ensemble she'd just ordered the former Playmate to remove.

She said: "[Barbara] wanted to start dressing like me.

"There were times when she'd say change, and she'd make people run out and get that dress in her size. I was a human Barbie doll."

Things eventually felt so bad for the blonde beauty, she began to "hide" from her co-host.

She said: "When I'd hear the shuffle of her feet, I knew that Barbara was after me. It would get faster. Oh my God -- she's coming! Based on the speed of the shuffle, I would hide or get on the phone."

Every day, the 'Masked Singer' star would worry about which side of Barbara she would encounter that day, comparing the situation to that in 'Mommie Dearest', the biographical drama about Joan Crawford's allegedly abusive relationship with her daughter Christina.

She said: "[I'd tell myself] 'Hopefully, I get the Barbara Walters who is nice'.

"You know the movie 'Mommie Dearest'?" I remember as a child watching that movie and going, 'Holy cow!'

"I've never seen a woman yell like that before until I worked with Barbara Walters."

Jenny - who turned down her own talk show for the job on 'The View' - claimed she initially thought she was hired to discuss pop culture but was eventually told they couldn't talk about it any more because Barbara "doesn't know who the people are", leaving her feeling out of her depth when asked to talk about politics instead.

She said: "I panicked because I don't consider myself a political person.

"Now I had to figure out, 'Am I coming out as a Republican or a Democrat? Where do I stand on all the social issues and political issues?'

"I was going to work crying. I couldn't be myself. My fans were telling me, 'Where's Jenny? They aren't letting you be you.' "

But with the presenter at the time aged 83 and approaching her final year on the show, Jenny did have sympathy towards her and felt no "hard feelings".

She said: "Imagine a woman like Barbara Walters. It's her last year and she doesn't want to leave. Think about that. And I'm the new bitch there...

"Look at what Barbara did to me. I had zero hard feelings. I loved her like a grandma. She didn't know any better."