‘The View’: ABC Reportedly Eyeing Ana Navarro as Abby Huntsman Replacement

Just days after Abby Huntsman announced her exit from The View, ABC executives are reportedly already eyeing her replacement. With one co-host seat set to be vacant following the Friday, Jan. 17 episode, Huntsman’s last, network executives are reportedly hoping that Friday co-host Ana Navarro will take on a more permanent position.

“It’s no secret, the audience loves Ana. Whoopi, Joy and Sunny love Ana,” a source told the Daily Mail. “The producers love Ana. Giving her more days would be a no-brainer for sure. But since ABC News has taken over The View, the right thing is rarely done anymore, which is why the turnover rate on this show post-Barbara is so high.”

Convincing Navarro to join the talk show full-time may be difficult, however, as she is a newlywed who resides in Miami, meaning that she would have to split her time between Florida in New York City.

Navarro, a Republican strategist and political commentator for a number of outlets, including CNN, ABC News, and Telemundo, joined The View back in November of 2018 as a weekly guest co-host. She became a political celebrity during the 2016 presidential campaign, during which she was vocal about her opposition of then-candidate Donald Trump.

“Ana brings her political expertise, quick-wit and intelligence to the table mixing seamlessly with our incredible panel of diverse, smart, and fierce women,” Hilary Estey McLoughlin, Sr. Executive Producer, said at the time, according to Forbes. “She is a familiar face to our View audience, having appeared as a recurring guest co-host in season 21, and the chance to have her at the table each Friday was a fantastic opportunity to add her provocative and informed voice to the discussion.”

Viewers potentially seeing more of Navarro comes after Huntsman on Monday announced that she would be leaving The View in order to help run her father Jon Huntsman Jr.’s campaign for governor of Utah, for which she will act as the senior advisor.

“This is always such a hard thing to do,” Huntsman said. “And especially this table because this is a really special table. The most iconic show I think on television and the smartest women that I’ve ever worked with. But today I’m saying goodbye.”

Huntsman, the daughter of the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and former governor of Utah joined The View at the start of its 22nd season in September 2018, getting her start at ABC News while interning at Good Morning America and World News Tonight in college. Her final episode of The View will air on Friday, Jan. 17.