James White/CBS
-
Entertainment
Photos
-
Entertainment
Photos
-
Beauty
Celeb Hair
And then there were... two? When The Talk (CBS, weekdays, 2 p.m. ET) returns for its second season on September 6, it looks like just two of its six original cohosts will be sitting at the table.
Deadline reports that Leah Remini, 41, and Holly Robinson Peete, 46, probably won't be returning to the daytime chatfest. That news comes on the heels of Sharon Osbourne's decision to take time off (and return later in a reduced role). Marissa Jaret Winokur left back in January.
That leaves moderator Julie Chen and cohost/creator Sara Gilbert as the sole original members of the panel. Deadline has also learned that "the producing team is currently mapping out the show's creative direction for season 2 before a decision is made about potentially bringing in new cohosts." So, what's going on over there, anyway?
The New York Post places the blame on Chen, whose controlling ways are "forcing the ladies to flee the daytime gab-fest," according to the paper's unnamed source. Recently, Chen angered her cohosts by insisting that they keep mum about the Casey Anthony trial while she was away on vacation with her husband, CBS chief Les Moonves. The reason? She was the only host with journalistic credentials.
But the paper also quotes another source, who suggests that Remini was "a disruptive force" whose mother often came on set and refused to follow studio rules.
Ironically, the show's viewership has been on an upswing, drawing its largest audience (2.21 million) last month. Too bad the cohosts can't seem to get along!
