We can all join together in a collective sigh of relief, because Deadline reports that Sherri Shepherd will be returning to The View as a contributor for its upcoming 19th season and will appear in about 50 episodes of the daytime talk show. Shepherd, who joined the cast in 2007, left last year, explaining that God told her to. Anti-vaccination kook Jenny McCarthy also left, because Shepherd is her #sister.
After its underperforming 18th season—the first without long-standing co-host and co-creator Barbara Walters—ABC News is hoping to revamp The View. Bringing back Shepherd, one of the most popular co-hosts in recent years, is certainly a step in the right direction. The View will also be returning to a five-host format after having only four regular hosts this season. Whoopi Goldberg will be the only returning host, joined by Raven-Symone, Michelle Collins, Candace Cameron Bure, and Paula Faris. Shepherd will lead a group of contributors that also includes Stacey London and Molly Sims.
Shepherd, it seems, has been living a great life in her year without The View, making her Broadway debut in Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Cinderella as the wicked stepmother Madame and joining the cast of the TV Land comedy The Soul Man. She also co-starred in upcoming films Ride Along 2 and Woodlawn—plus, she stars in and executive produces Holy And Hungry, which premieres on The Cooking Channel on August 23. She has been doing standup, too, and working on a new book about life after divorce. The only thing she hasn’t done in these past 11 months is drop a single called “My Single Is Dropping.” In other words, Shepherd is doing just fine away from The View, but ABC must have found a way—and the money—to get her back.