‘The View’: Rosie O’Donnell finally confirmed to be joining Whoopi Goldberg

While the drama pertaining to Elisabeth Hasselbeck may be continuing for some time, one thing is definitely official today: Rosie O’Donnell will be back on “The View” for the fall season.

After a few days of constant rumors about it, ABC confirmed the news today. This makes her and Whoopi Goldberg at the moment the only two members of a panel in desperate need of a shake-up. Rosie is controversial, outspoken, and is going to be very polarizing to the fan base already. Some old fans of the show will return, whereas some others may want to bail for good.

What ABC really needs to do now to balance out the panel is to go for a couple of people who are a little more home-spun, and don’t have the same sort of experience as performers or hosts. Goldberg and O’Donnell are also very liberal, and since this show is about differing viewpoints, getting someone who is a little more conservative could be valuable.

As for who these other contenders are, nothing has been really leaked just yet. ABC likely prioritized first and foremost being able to ensure that they got Rosie on board, and then went to find some other great contenders from there. We expect the entire panel to be announced by around August or so, that way there is time for them to develop a little chemistry and familiarize themselves with each other before the premiere. The last thing you want is to stick four people on the show with zero experience around each other, and then hope that things magically work out.

In case you missed it earlier, you’re probably going to want to check out the video here to see what Joy Behar had to say about this Rosie – Hasselbeck controversy. Also, be sure to sign up now to get some further updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: ABC