‘The Talk’: Why Did Holly Robinson Peete Leave The Daytime TV Show?
There’s a lot of turnover in the entertainment world. Celebrities often have conflicting demands on their time, and one project’s opening can be the abrupt end of another role. Meanwhile, the entertainment industry’s dependence on popularity can make it a particularly volatile place. If the rating tank, it can mean an unceremonious ousting from even established positions.
When it comes to frequent turnover, The Talk has been a source of gossip and rumor. The daytime TV show has seen a sort of revolving door of co-hosts over the years.
Holly Robinson Peete was among those whose time on The Talk came to an end. What was behind the departure?
‘The Talk’ has been on the air since 2010
There are plenty of daytime talk shows, and the staggering net worths of many hosts demonstrate that they are immensely popular and lucrative. When The Talk premiered in 2010, it entered a crowded and established field, but it soon set itself apart as a fan favorite. The concept, originally developed by actor Sara Gilbert, mirrors the format of ABC’s rival show The View.
A panel of co-hosts dig into news of the day across a range of topics including news stories, celebrity gossip, and interesting offbeat happenings. The personalities of the women involved don’t always align, but those different perspectives are part of the draw.
Turnover has marked ‘The Talk’ throughout its run
When The Talk premiered, there were six women serving as co-hosts. Notably, half of them did not make it to the second season. Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete, and Marissa Jaret Winokur only served in the role for a single season.
While that tenure may have been exceptionally short, there has been plenty of other turnovers as the show has gone on. In fact, now that Sharon Osbourne has been ousted, none of the original members remain.
Sheryl Underwood, a comedian who rose to fame throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, entered the show during the second season. Her frequent radio talk show appearances gave her a clear grasp of the quick-witted banter necessary to make this kind of panel talk show work, and she’s become the longest-running member of the current cast.
Holly Robinson Peete left ‘The Talk’ after Season 1
Holly Robinson Peete has a long-running acting career that started with a Sesame Street appearance when she was just four years old. She was cast alongside Leah Remini, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Sara Gilbert, Julie Chen, and Sharon Osbourne as one of the original co-hosts of The Talk.
As Us Weekly reports, Remini, Winokur, and Peete would all be off the show by its Season 2 premiere. Peete’s departure was tied up in speculation and rumor that grew deeper when Remini tweeted in 2012 that Sharon Osbourne had found Peete and Remini to be “ghetto.”
Later, Peete opened up about how distressing the situation was for her. As The Hollywood Reporter explains, Peete wasn’t told about her removal from the show: “I just started hearing rumors that other people were hired. So, I’m like, ‘That’s going to be a crowded table.’ And I couldn’t get anything from my agents, no one could get anything from anybody.”
It wasn’t until just days before filming was set to begin that Peete officially got word that she was not continuing, and she tuned into the premiere to see if the show would explain why she was removed. “It was a very, very frustrating time – the most frustrating time of my professional life,” Peete explains. She never did get any closure on what went wrong, but she hinted at interpersonal tensions without naming any names.
“The main issue with The Talk is when you have somebody who’s in a power position and who can make decisions, there’s not a lot of recourse, there’s not a lot of discussion,” Peete explained.
