Dancing with the Stars’ Carrie Ann Inaba officially joins The Talk
It made a lot of sense for Inaba to take over the spot vacated by original panelist Julie Chen. For starters, she’s got an extensive amount of television experience between guest-hosting gigs and also judging the ballroom-dance competition. She also fits into the established target demographics for The Talk overall. She is a panelist who viewers will get behind and want to support, and we think that this is absolutely important for a show that is very much about the connection between the panelists and viewers at home. The Talk wants to believe that viewers are going to be cheering on the individual people who are put in chairs.
In a statement confirming this news today, Angelica McDaniel, Executive Vice President of Daytime Programs for CBS Entertainment, had the following to say:
“Carrie Ann connects with audiences by being genuine. We appreciate her warmth, heart and vulnerability, and love what she brings to the show.”
We absolutely do think that the plan for The Talk now is to keep Inaba on board for a rather-long time — one of their biggest strengths over the years has been relative stability among their roster of panelists. It’s what helps to differentiate them somewhat from The View, which has taken more of a revolving-door approach since Barbara Walters first retired from being a part of the show. For those wondering, Inaba would be able to continue being a part of Dancing with the Stars and The Talk at the same time. The two series film relatively close to each other in Los Angeles and beyond that, Dancing with the Stars only films one or two days a week, at most. (Granted, there is no confirmation that the ballroom show will even be back for another season just yet — it’s likely, but it probably will not happen until the fall.)
Chen opted to leave The Talk after reports surfaced about sexual misconduct involving her husband and then-CBS CEO Les Moonves. He has since stepped down from his position, and Chen continues to host Big Brother / Celebrity Big Brother.
What do you think about Carrie Ann Inaba officially joining The Talk today? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments. (Photo: CBS.)