On June 18, The Talk featured a very unexpected guest when a massive cockroach crawled across the wall during a segment with host Sheryl Underwood. The moment went viral on Twitter, with many people commenting on the unwelcome insect. “Am I the only one who seen the bug (cockroach) crawling on the wall just on [The Talk],” tweeted one concerned viewer. “I’m watching the talk and a big cockroach bug was crawling on the wall so gross,” wrote another. “HOLY S— LIVE TV RULES THERE IS A GIANT COCKROACH OR CICADA THAT WAS CRAWLING ON THE SET OF THE TALK,” another fan excitedly tweeted. “I was waiting in an doctor’s office. They had a TV on to The Talk. As one of them spoke a large bug was crawling up the picture frame behind her. I see the cockroaches wanted to be interviewed,” noted another casual viewer.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Doug Yanega, senior museum scientist of the Entomology Research Museum at UC Riverside whether this pest was a sign of an infestation on The Talk set or merely a creepy-crawly aberration. “It’s an adult roach — blurry as it is, it clearly has its wings — and adult roaches can fly, quite well, and they typically do so at night when they’re most active,” Yanega explained.
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“Because they fly, and because they’re attracted to lights at night, like most nocturnal insects, they will find their way into many places very easily,” Yanega told THR. “As such, seeing an adult American roach is vastly less of a concern than it would be if the roach was a nymph or a wingless species… It could easily have been by itself, rather than some evil harbinger of a hidden horde.”
This cockroach intrusion comes on the heels of the announcement that The Talk is coming back for a 12th season following a difficult year for the CBS talk show. After the internal investigation that led to the contentious exit of Sharon Osbourne and extended show hiatus, The Talk announced Monday on Twitter that it will be coming back for a 12th year in 2021-2022 after first debuting in October 2010. Now hosted by moderators Sheryl Underwood, Amanda Kloots and Elaine Welteroth — with Carrie Ann Inaba on a hiatus of her own — the show has not announced its cast for next season, nor a replacement for Osbourne.
