Abby Huntsman, a former co-host of the popular daytime talk show, The View, is preparing for a notable return to the program despite having previously criticized it as fostering a ‘toxic environment.’
Huntsman, who is 39 years old, was a key conservative voice on the panel from 2018 until her departure in 2020. Announcing the news through a social media update on Sunday, The View revealed that she would be stepping back into the spotlight as a guest host this week.
Her reappearance is part of a series of temporary hosts stepping in for Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former official in the Trump administration, who is currently on maternity leave.
Initially, Huntsman cited her exit from the show as a move to support her father, Jon Huntsman, in his run for governor of Utah. However, a deeper narrative surfaced a year later.
On her podcast, I Wish Somebody Told Me, which she co-hosts with her friend Lauren Leeds, a comedy writer and media producer, Huntsman opened up about the real reasons behind her departure. She candidly shared that The View ‘did not reflect my values’ and was guilty of ‘rewarding people for bad behavior.’
She confessed that The View ‘did not reflect my values’ and was ‘rewarding people for bad behavior.’
Huntsman said that the executives were ‘all about money and the tabloids…You would see people act in ways that were not okay, that was very much part of the toxic environment of The View, and here we were going on the air criticizing others for toxic culture.’
She went on to reveal that a producer on the show had requested she read a statement on air denying reports of a toxic workplace, which she refused.
Abby Huntsman, pictured above in 2019, is set to return to The View as a temporary co-host this week, following her sensational departure in 2020
Huntsman left television after she departed from The View. Rumors swirled at the time of a feud between her and fellow conservative co-host, Meghan McCain. She’s pictured above (send from the left) with Joy Behar, guest Jamie Lee Curtis, Sunny Hostin and McCain in 2019
Huntsman, pictured above in a social media post in January, was on MSNBC and Fox News before her tenure on The View from 2018 to 2020
Huntsman launched a podcast in 2021 with her friend Lauren Leeds. The cover of the show is pictured above
Huntsman claimed that when she said she would not read the statement, the producer later texted her, ‘That was a mistake.’
She reflected on her last day on set and said that before taping had even concluded, her sister emailed her a news article citing a source inside the show who claimed that producers were planning to fire her before she resigned.
‘When I was walking out of the building that day, I was living again,’ Huntsman said on her podcast.
‘I could breathe and feel myself breathing. I was present and I hadn’t been present for the almost two years I was there.’
Prior to her departure, reports surfaced of tension between Huntsman and her fellow conservative panelist, Meghan McCain.
A CNN Business article at the time cited multiple sources who described a toxic work environment on set and a ‘soured relationship’ between the two conservative women.
McCain and Huntsman had a longtime friendship, having both come from well-known Republican families.
However, sources said that their relationship was frayed when Huntsman began discussing her children on-air following McCain’s miscarriage.
Huntsman told her friend Lauren Leeds, pictured above, on her podcast that the environment on The View was ‘toxic’
Reports surfaced before Huntsman’s departure that she had a feud with longtime friend Meghan McCain. The two are pictured above on The View in 2019
A slew of panelists, including Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Savannah Chrisley, are also filling in for Alyssa Farah Griffin
‘Abby was sick of being berated by Meghan for perceived slights,’ one of the sources told CNN. ‘She ultimately decided she didn’t need this job and it wasn’t worth it.’
An ABC spokesperson denied the report at the time, telling CNN in a statement: ‘There has always been a fascination with the behind-the-scenes at the show since the show began, but they do a tough job by going out there every day to share their opinions and beliefs on live TV.’
Huntsman struck a different tone in her goodbye message, telling viewers how difficult it was to leave The View and calling it the ‘most iconic show on television’ with the ‘smartest women.’
Prior to her tenure on the show, Huntsman was a host on MSNBC and Fox News. During her time as a panelist, Huntsman hosted alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Meghan McCain.
Farah Griffin took over McCain’s seat on the show in 2022, following multiple public clashes between McCain and the other panelists.
Other conservative commentators filling in for Farah Griffin include reality star Savannah Chrisley and former host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who sat on the panel from 2003 to 2013.
Hasslebeck has also offered harsh words for The View’s current lineup, telling Fox News in 2025 that the show ‘refused to put anyone there who has a lick of sense on most days.’
