ABC’s “The View” Denies TMZ Report that Rosie O’Donnell’s Return Is Imminent

ABC/Lou Rocco(NEW YORK) — Is Rosie O’Donnell headed back to ABC’s The View? Not so fast, says the daytime talk show.

According to TMZ, O’Donnell and The View have been in negotiations for her return for a few days now with the deal being firmed up Tuesday. The View is expected to make an announcement shortly, according to the gossip site.

Still, a spokesperson from The View, responding to the report, told ABC News Radio: “As we have said previously, The View will be moving in an exciting new direction next season and ABC has made decisions to evolve the show creatively but at this time, we have no announcement to make and we are weeks away from making any type of announcement about anything pertaining to the show.”

O’Donnell was a co-host on the Emmy Award-winning talk show from 2006 to 2007, often making headlines for bumping heads with then co-panelist Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

It’s no secret that The View is on the lookout for new faces to join the panel as Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy announced their departures last month. Those announcements followed the retirement of creator Barbara Walters in May.

If departing co-host Shepherd has anything to do with it, she’d like a Latina woman to fill one of those seats. “I would love to see a Latina sitting in that chair because I think that, again, that’s a different voice that has not been heard and we would love to hear that voice,” she told ABC News Radio previously. “So I think there’s two chairs open and they would both fit it really, really well. Where’s Rosie Perez?”

In recent weeks, actress Ana Ortiz and CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin have been guest hosts, who fit that bill. However, Shepherd also wouldn’t mind a man sitting on the panel. “I always love having men on the show because we have our point of view as women, but it’s always different when a man comes on,” Shepherd said.

Two men who have been seen regularly on The View as co-hosts lately are former Apprentice winner Bill Rancic and E!’s Ross Mathews.

TMZ reports that Abby Huntsman and Margaret Hoover are also in the running to fill the void as they bring a conservative prospective.

Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio