Why Kathie Lee Eschewed The View: "I Had My Fill"
Kathie Lee Gifford by Jesse Grant/WireImage.com
See that .38-caliber projectile whizzing past your head, fans of
The View? That's the bullet you dodged when Reege's "ex,"
Kathie Lee Gifford, removed herself from consideration to replace
Rosie on ABC's other daytime talker. "[
The View] did ask me last spring [to consider the gig]," Gifford tells
Entertainment Weekly. "And I graciously said, 'No thanks.'" Why the rebuff? "It's a world I know too well," says Cody et al's momma. "So many people who would just die for fame and fortune don't understand that you can die
from it. I had my fill of the negative side of fame and fortune long ago."
View executive producer Bill Geddie clarifies for
EW that while "we love Kathie Lee and always love having her on the program" - she has guest-hosted numerous times - "Whoopi [Goldberg] was always our first choice and the only person the network offered the job to."
