Key Points
Star Jones returned to The View for an interview encouraging women to consider heart health.
Jones then reacted to footage of herself cohosting the show in 2001 by saying she looked “fat as a mug.”
Josh Duhamel also surprised Jones by coming out from backstage.
Star Jones returned to The View‘s Hot Topics table — and brought a pointed observation about herself along with her.
The lawyer, TV personality, and original View cohost stopped by the talk show Wednesday to promote her advocacy on behalf of women’s heart health, and she kicked off the interview in an unexpected fashion.
“She always had an open invitation to come back any time, so please welcome the fabulous Star Jones,” moderator Whoopi Goldberg said, introducing Jones, who walked out and smiled as comedian Joy Behar — who also originated The View‘s panel in 1997 — praised her by observing, “You look great!”
Jones collected herself for a moment before quipping, “Oh my goodness. Boy, I was fat as a mug in that.”
Minutes earlier, The View played a clip of Jones interviewing former All My Children actor Josh Duhamel back in 2001, during which he gifted her with a cheeky headshot he signed with the phrase, “Last night was wonderful.”
The 2001 segment also included Duhamel pretending to make out with past View moderator Meredith Vieira.
In a surprise move back on Wednesday’s live broadcast, Duhamel then came out from backstage to greet Jones upon her View return, and he gifted her with yet another headshot.
Steve Fenn/ABC/Courtesy Everett
Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Joy Behar, Lisa Ling, and Barbara Walters on ‘The View’ in 1999
“Thanks for all the wonderful memories. Love, Boy Wonder,” he wrote on the new photo. “P.S., can you please tell Meredith to stop calling me?”
The episode followed Jones’ return as a guest cohost earlier this year, when she sat alongside the panel for the duration of the Feb. 5 edition.
Jones previously sat alongside the panel as an episode-long cohost on Feb. 4, 2022, while she’s also served as a regular interview guest — including on the Jan. 3, 2023 episode commemorating the death of creator Barbara Walters, who died in December 2022.
The 63-year-old’s first run on the show’s cast ended in significant controversy. The program reportedly didn’t opt to renew her contract, and the star had allegedly agreed to announce her exit live on the air in June 2006. However, Jones reportedly shocked Walters by unexpectedly making the announcement on her own — live on the air — two days ahead of schedule.
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“After much prayer and counsel, I feel like this is the right time to tell you,” Jones said at the time. “I will not be returning as cohost next year.”
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.
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