The View’s compelling cocktail or personalities has made the show more popular than ever, even as it enters its 13th year on the air. Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck sat down with Ladies’ Home Journal to discuss their chemistry, their occasional foot-in-mouth moments, and how they’ve made having strong opinions downright ladylike.
Excerpts from the October issue of Ladies’ Home Journal, on newsstands, September 8, follow:
On the secret of their success:
Joy: “We are a reality show of the real kind. You watch the Jon & Kate Plus 8 shows, but they’ve been faking things for two years. We have a real show, we are real people and the audience relates to that.”
Barbara: “The chemistry is the most important thing. We have been imitated again and again – by men, by other programs – and the thought is there should be one older person, one comedian, one black person, and one younger person, and that will make it work. And it doesn’t. Our roles on the show have changed and I think we’re better than ever because of this group.”
On disagreeing on set:
Whoopi: “There are times when you think, I shouldn’t have said that, and I’m sorry. But nobody cares if you say something tough – it’s over and done with. They’re like, No, no, no I know what you meant. The next day you’re back on cue. Or five minutes later, after the commercial, you’re back to being the two of you.”
Elizabeth: “We know what triggers the other person, but we also believe what we believe. It’s all up for discussion, and we know we’re all coming back tomorrow. So we love each other even though we don’t always agree.”
About the fighting rumors:
Whoopi: “The idea was put into people’s minds before I arrived – that was played up with Rosie, and it stuck. I think for a while things got more personal than they should have and people glommed onto that. I think people want there to be feuds. But I am too lazy to fight – it takes too much energy to keep it going.”
Elizabeth: “I typically get two comments. One is, ‘I feel so bad for you.’ Or: ‘That has to be difficult to do every day.’ Neither is true, and I don’t enjoy pity. Anyway, the show isn’t as interesting when we agree.”
On memorable guests:
Sherri: “I love the gorgeous men who come through and that I get to put my hand on their thighs. The guys love it. Robert Downey Jr. put my head in his lap. And they kiss you. What kind of job do I have? Every man I love turns around and gives me a kiss. When Obama showed up, I was like, this is it, I am done. And Jonathan Rhys Meyers? I am like a predator cougar on that boy. I will hurt you.”
On their male fans:
Barbara: “I don’t think of us as a woman’s show. I was at the MichaelJ ackson memorial, and these male cops kept saying, ‘I watch your show every day!”
Elizabeth: “My husband, Tim [Hasselbeck, former NFL quarterback] has played for two or three teams since I’ve been on the show, and every team he’s been on, they all watch the show while they’re icing their legs. They sit and watch and try to get what women are about.”
On Barbara’s little-known expertise:
Sherri: “Barbara gives the best single-women advice…about raising my son and relationships. She also gives good advice about sex.”
Barbara: “Yeah, because I know so much about sex. I think I learned it all on the show.”
