Since The View premiered on ABC in 1997, it has featured a revolving door of panelists with varying political views. So, the addition of broadcast journalist Abby Huntsman was nothing new for the show. But after two seasons, The View co-host decided to depart the political chatfest. Over a year after her departure, Huntsman revealed why leaving the daytime talk show was the best decision ever.
Abby Huntsman’s time on the polarizing talk show was turbulent, to say the least. So, her departure from The View in Jan. 2020 was no surprise. Huntsman finally decided to give some insight into her time on the show. The television journalist revealed her feelings on leaving the popular talk show, telling People:
I don’t talk much about that time, and I won’t, but the decision that I made was probably the best decision I could have made for my life, for my mental health, for my happiness, for my family.
Taking care of one’s mental health is especially important in this age and day. And given the heated and news-making conversations on the daytime talk show, it was understandable that Abby Huntsman wanted to leave for her personal reasons. Her happiness now indicates that her departure was for the best.
Abby Huntsman also revealed more about her agonizing decision. She mentioned her views on broadcast journalism had shifted even before her tenure on The View. Huntsman said about her decision to leave the opinionated panel show:
I've been in the news industry for the last 10 years working at so many different places, but it was a decision that I felt in my gut, actually, for quite some time about making, much longer than people probably realize. And when I made the decision, I remember walking out those doors after they told me, 'No one quits their dream job in television,' and I said, 'Well, this isn't the dream job that I was hoping, in many ways, that it was.' When I walked out those doors for the first time, I could hear the birds chirping in the city, in Central Park and I looked up in the sky and I thought, 'This is the best thing I did for myself.' Because I can see the world, I can hear the world, I'm more present.
The former View co-host has used her time in quarantine with her family to heal from her time on the daytime talk show. Abby Huntsman’s View departure couldn’t have come at a better time. Huntsman admitted that she was confined to a certain role in the media leading to an unhealthy obsession with public perception. She was right to leave the show if she felt pigeonholed into a certain role to please (or agitate) the public.
Given the constant media focus on The View, Abby Huntsman needed to leave for the sake of her life and family. The television journalist isn’t done with the media completely as she revealed a secretive podcast she’s working on right now. Hopefully, this new podcast will give Huntsman the voice and satisfaction she craves.
