'The View': Nicolle Wallace Reveals Why She Thinks She Was Fired

Nicolle Wallace is opening up about her unceremonious exit from The View in 2015 as her daily MSNBC program, Deadline: White House expands from one to two hours Monday. The communications director for former President George W. Bush and an advisor to 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain touched on her time on ABC's daytime talk show in a new profile for The Los Angeles Times, saying she "loved" sitting on the panel with co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O'Donnell and Rosie Perez, but her firing felt "personal."

"Well, I think the problem was it wasn't contentious that season I was on," she said when asked about the reason the network gave for her exit. "Being fired from a TV show where you think you're kind of baring your soul feels personal because it is. It's like being broken up with. Because I never worked in entertainment I think what I didn't understand is: It really was a casting, and it was a casting they didn't like."

Wallace continued that she "sought to make piece" with O'Donnell and Perez after her time on the show and had "such a special friendship" with Goldberg, whom she remembered as "the first human being who I have ever heard say out loud, in the summer of 2015 — [Donald Trump] is going to be a president, guys.'" She recalled of the moment, "I remember whipping my head around and looking at her." Goldberg still clearly has fond feelings for Wallace too, telling The Times in an email, "The only thing better than one hour with Nicolle Wallace is two — it just makes you smarter."

The View is undergoing a current shake-up on its panel, with Variety reporting last week that Sara Haines would return to the Hot Topics table after her 2018 exit to fill the empty seat left by Abby Hunstman in January 2020. While ABC has yet to announce the casting news, Haines is reportedly scheduled to join the other panelists for Season 24 in September following the cancellation of the show she co-hosted with Keke Palmer and Michael Strahan, Strahan, Sara and Keke. The show was not renewed back in March to make room for GMA 3: What You Need to Know amid the coronavirus pandemic. Haines will join Goldberg, Joy Behar, Meghan McCain and Sunny Hostin on this season after appearing virtually as a guest host throughout the most recent season.