Meghan McCain to Make ‘The View’ Return After John McCain’s Death

Meghan McCain is making her return to ABC’s The View more than a month after her father, Senator John McCain, died following a year-long battle with brain cancer.

After announcing in September following her father’s funeral that she would be stepping away from the ABC morning talk show temporarily, McCain will return to the table alongside her co-hosts on Monday, Oct. 8.

“She’s still in intense grief and will be sharing that on the show, but it was her brother, Jimmy, who was insistent on her going back to work, like their dad would have been,” a source told PEOPLE. “Her dad wouldn’t want her to be crying and feeling sorry for herself, but he would want her to be strong, get back to the grind and keep doing the great job that she’s been doing.”

“Jimmy kept saying that dad would want Meghan to show them how tough she is, like she showed with her eulogy,” the source added. “Jimmy, his wife Holly and Meghan’s husband, Ben, along with numerous other family and friends, have been such rocks thorough all this.”

McCain had been absent from The View during the season 22 premiere, which occurred just after her father was laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland, and her new cast member, Abby Huntsman, addressed her absence and her loss.

“Meghan is like a sister to me and this was the hardest thing she has ever been through,” she said. “Her dad was her best friend, her dad was everything. I was so proud of her — it was like her dad had passed the torch to her. She was now speaking for the family.”

Sen. McCain died on Aug. 25 at age 81 after having been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2017. He died just one day after his family announced that he would no longer receive treatment.

“I was with my father at his end, as he was with me at my beginning,” his daughter wrote in a statement published the day of her father’s death. “In the thirty-three years we shared together, he raised me, taught me, corrected me, comforted me, encouraged me, and supported me in all things. He loved me, and I loved him. He taught me how to Life. His love and his care, ever present, always unfailing, took me from a girl to a woman – and he showed me what it is to be a man.”

The 33-year-old, who is still “working through “her father’s death, gave a moving eulogy at his funeral and has paid tribute to him on social media.

McCain will make her return to The View on Monday, Oct. 8 at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.