The View table nearly had a Bravolebrity fill a seat, a staffer for the talk show has revealed.
After the departure of former cohost Meghan McCain, the question of who would replace her hung in the air. Several guest hosts, including Alyssa Farah Griffin, made the rounds until Griffin, 34, was eventually named as a permanent cohost in August 2022.
Among the candidates up for consideration was Southern Charm’s Cameran Eubanks, The View executive producer Brian Teta shared on the Monday, October 2, episode of the “The View: Behind the Table” podcast.
“At one point, a Southern Charm cast member was interested in auditioning for your job, when you were auditioning for the job,” Teta told Griffin on the episode. “It was very exciting. It did not pan out.”
“She didn’t even end up guest-hosting, did she?” Griffin asked. Teta confirmed that she never even tried the gig. While Teta nor Griffin named Eubanks in their conversation, Entertainment Weekly reported that they were in fact referencing the Bravo star.
Teta and Griffin did, however, discuss another other reality star who was in the running.
“I was like, that’s very stiff competition,” Griffin, who used to work as the White House Director of Strategic Communications and Assistant to the President, said. “One of our beloved producers blurted out to me that she wanted me to get the job, or Paige DeSorbo, who never even auditioned, but she’s on Summer House. I was like, ‘What? You’re team Paige over Alyssa?’ But, she’d be fun on a talk show.”
Other potential candidates included former The View guest cohosts such as journalist Lindsey Granger, former CNN political commentator Tara Setmayer and lawyer and Real Housewives of New York City alum Eboni K. Williams.
A little over a year into her role as permanent cohost, Griffin has had some memorable on The View. On the September 14 episode, longtime host Whoopi Goldberg interrupted Griffin mid-sentence to randomly ask, “Are you pregnant?”
Griffin seemed taken aback and replied, “No — oh, my God.”
“You can’t say that when my mother-in-law is here, who’s been dying for me to get pregnant!” she added.“Why? Do I look pregnant?”
Later, Griffin said she had no hard feelings towards Goldberg and, in fact, saw it as a positive thing.
“Whoopi, she thinks out loud sometimes, and I chose to take it as a compliment — that I’m glowing,” Griffin explained on the “The View: Behind the Table” podcast that aired the same day. “She’s so sweet.”
