Meghan McCain is leaving The View: ‘This was not an easy decision’

Co-host has been with show for four seasons

Meghan McCain has announced her resignation from The View, where she has worked as a host for four seasons.

On Thursday, the talk-show host began the show by informing viewers: “I’m just going to rip the Band-Aid off, I am here to tell all of you, my wonderful co-hosts and the viewers at home that this is going to be my last season here at The View.”

McCain then confirmed that she will be continuing her hosting duties until the end of July, which she said she is “grateful for” before revealing that the decision to depart was not an “easy one”.

“This was not an easy decision, it took a lot of thought and counsel and prayer and talking to my family and close friends, and, you know, look, Covid has changed the world for all of us and it changed the way I am looking at life, the way I am living my life, what I want my life to look like, and when I said ‘goodbye’ to all of you in the studio, over a year and a half ago, I had just found out I was pregnant,” she said. “I left the city very quickly because my OB-GYN wanted me to leave because he wasn’t sure how Covid could possibly impact pregnant women.”

McCain also spoke of the life she, her husband and their daughter Liberty have built in DC, and why she doesn’t want to leave.

The 36-year-old then expressed the gratitude she feels at being part of the show, continuing: “On a professional note, this show is one of, hands down, the most greatest, exhilarating, wonderful privileges of my entire life and I have had so many amazing experiences in my life.”

The talk-show host’s announcement comes after it was reported by the DailyMail that she would be announcing her intention to leave today, 1 July, despite having two more years remaining in her contract.

“Meghan will announce her resignation on Thursday’s show,” a Disney source told the DailyMail, adding that McCain’s co-hosts,  Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro, had not yet been aware of the resignation.

The source also reported that the network tried to keep McCain, but that the 36-year-old was “adamant that now is the right time for her to leave”.

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McCain, the daughter of late Senator John McCain, first joined the show in 2017, where she has become an outspoken conservative voice, which has often led to on-air fights with her co-stars.

Last month, the differing views between McCain and Goldberg over President Joe Biden’s recent comments directed at a CNN reporter sparked a tense on-air exchange that ended with both hosts apologising.

However, while announcing her decision to depart the show, McCain referred to her co-hosts as “the most talented women on all of television, hands down”.

McCain has also found herself facing criticism for past controversial statements, with the co-host apologising earlier this year after John Oliver called her out over anti-Asian comments.

The Independent has contacted The View for comment.