Barbara Walters’ final live appearance was axed from ‘The View’.
The US-born broadcast journalist – who created and co-hosted the show from 1997 to 2014 – had her live segment on the season 18 premiere of the ABC series cancelled by channel bosses.
Sources told the New York Post newspaper’s Page Six column that the 84-year-old presenter was keen to appear live on the programme until the idea was quashed by producers who decided she would appear in a taped segment instead.
However, Barbara – who exited the show in May this year and handed over to new hosts Rosie Perez, Rosie O’Donnell and Nicolle Wallace in the pre-prepared scenes in which she sat on a throne wearing a crown and invited her successors to kiss her hand – insists she had no desire to appear live on the show.
She said: "How silly! I deliberately taped a piece at the top, gave it my blessing, and now they’re off to the races."
A source added: "She was very happy with the cute piece on the top of the show, where the new hosts kissed her ring.
"(She is) very savvy about TV and knows that if she was a live guest, all the headlines would be about that and not the new hosts."
Barbara is also believed to have turned down a guest role opposite Matt Lauer on rival channel NBC’s ‘Today’ as part of ‘Homecoming Week’ as ABC bosses advised her against it.
A source said: "They (NBC) asked Barbara, and she in turn asked ABC. There was a brief conversation, and ultimately she decided not to do it, because she wants to be loyal to ABC and not appear on the competition."
Barbara Walters’ live appearance axed from The View
