‘The Talk’: Rosie O’Donnell Cryptically Addresses Julie Chen Replacement Rumors

Rosie O’Donnell is stoking the fire of whispers that CBS is eyeing her to replace Julie Chen as a co-host of The Talk.

After one of her Twitter followers wrote that O’Donnell would “not likely” move from her home on the East Coast to Los Angeles to tape the talk show, O’Donnell responded, “perhaps I would.”

O’Donnell seems to be gunning for the job, as she announced Wednesday that she’d be guest hosting on Friday.

“this friday i will be guest hosting with the ladies of [The Talk] – don’t miss it !!” she wrote, adding three emoji hearts.

Fans wondered if the guest role could become permanent when she said she would “perhaps” move across the country for the job.

O’Donnell famously hosted The View during two separate runs, starting in 2006. She replaced Meredith Vieira as the show’s air-traffic-controller, but left in April 2007 after a headline-filled season, which included a feud with Donald Trump. At the time, ABC said it could not agree on terms of a contract extension with O’Donnell.

Years later, she appeared on Barbara Walters’ final episode of The View and was invited back to the show as a co-host in fall 2014. Months later, however, in February 2015, she again left The View, citing stress, “home stuff” and “kid stuff.”

But O’Donnell is not the only one competing for the seat at the table. Dancing With The Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba is also set to guest host on Friday afternoon — and Inaba has Chen’s stamp of approval.

During Chen’s farewell video to her castmates aired earlier this month, she told Inaba, who was sitting in Chen’s chair as a guest host that day, “In my opinion, you look awfully good sitting there, my Asian sister. I’m just saying!”

Show creator and co-host Sara Gilbert is off on Friday, which allows both to join the table at the same time. Inaba has not publicly commented on auditioning for the show, although she has shared several photos from her time as a guest host over the past few weeks.

As previously reported, Chen left the show after nine seasons when her husband, former CEO-chairman of CBS Corp Les Moonves, stepped down from his position facing allegations of sexual assault.

“I need to spend more time at home with my husband and our young son, so I’ve decided to leave The Talk,” Chen said during her final episode on the series in a pre-taped message.

CBS also released a statement about her exit from the show.

“All of us here have tremendous appreciation for the dedication and passion she brought to the show every day and for her generous role as an ambassador for CBS Daytime,” the statement said. “We are grateful for her many other contributions, respect her decision and wish Julie all the best in everything she does.”