ET spoke with 'The View's hosts about what it's been like to be back in the studio for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The View is back to broadcasting from the studio and so are its hosts, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines. ET spoke with the ladies about what it was like to return to the show's New York City studios in front of a live audience, for the first time in nearly two years after going virtual at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It was all right. I don't think any of us actually wanted to leave home, where we are in our midst, but I think for being gone for almost two years, we did what we know how to do," Whoopi told ET of their big return.
The morning show is celebrating another big milestone -- 25 years on air -- and there's only one host who has been there since the beginning, Joy. The TV veteran touched on how the show has changed over the years.
"We were four at that time and then it became five. It's much more fun to have fewer people, I think, because you can talk more," Joy said of the rotating panel of hosts the show has seen in the last 25 years. "It became like, 'I gotta get a word in here now,' you know, it was, 'I don't love that,' but we've learned how to do that, but the opposite of that is being alone in your house which is what we were for the past two years and now, Whoopi will be like, 'Well, what do you think?' And then all of a sudden I have to give a speech. I didn't love that, I don't love that. I like the audience, I like the camaraderie and I like the fun of it, which is what it's about now."
With Meghan McCain's exit from the show earlier this year, the ladies are back to four on their panel, but who joins next isn't entirely up to them. While potential guest co-hosts haven't been revealed, Joy told ET a conservative voice will be at the table.
"Well, we know every week they're gonna bring on another Republican, we know that," Joy said about filling that fifth chair.
And while the show is constantly changing and bringing on new and different voices, it's hard for Sunny and Sara to imagine the show without its two constants, Whoopi and Joy.
"She pillars that kind of anchor in a way that I can't really fathom them not being here. I don't like to think," Sara said of the show's OGs.
"They guide us each and every day and in the mornings also," Sunny added.
One thing's for sure, the ladies of The View are happy to be back and ready to serve up plenty of hot takes and hot topics, live and in studio.
"We are doing what we are supposed to be doing," Whoopi shared. "This is our gig and this is our gift from the world because not everybody gets to have an opinion, not everybody says, 'This is what I get to think and here is why' and 'let's talk about this.' This is a really great job. It's a really great job and a great seat for us, and I think we are as lucky as hell."
Tune in to tonight's episode of Entertainment Tonight for more of ET's interview with the ladies of The View.
Season 25 of The View airs weekday mornings at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.
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