Mike Pont/Getty ImagesReady for more Rosie?
Looks like it's happening, as multiple sources confirm to E! News that Rosie O'Donnell is close to closing a deal to rejoin ABC's long-running talk show.
O'Donnell, who was a host for just one tumultuous season back in 2007, is set to fill one of the empty chairs left by Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy, who announced that they will not be returning for Season 18, while Barbara Walters retired in May, leaving Whoopi Goldberg as the only remaining host.
ABC declined comment on Rosie, saying, "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."
ABC will meet with hundreds of reporters at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Beverly Hills next Tuesday, July 15, and an announcement may come down then.
O'Donnell famously exited the talk show in 2007, one month before her contract was set to expire, after a heated argument with fellow co-host Elisabeth Hasselback,who also later exited The View and now works for Fox & Friends.
"I didn't want to argue for a living," O'Donnell later said on The Oprah Winfrey Show of her decision to leave. "I didn't come back because the director and the producer did a split screen, and they had to prepare that in advance. I felt there was setup egging me into that position."
O'Donnell finally returned to the program for the first time in February 2014, with Barbara Walters saying, "I am happy to welcome her back to the program. She is always a lively and engaging guest and a part of the show's successful history."
O'Donnell also returned to The View in May as part of the show's epic sendoff for Walters, which featured appearances from all 11 former co-hosts.
When we polled E! Online readers about who should join The View in the wake of Shepard and McCarthy's exits, 16.7% percent voted for O'Donnell, who was second only to comedian and Sex and the City standout Mario Cantone.
While ABC has yet to comment on any other casting rumors, Sarah Palin has expressed interest in joining the table, saying, "It'd be so much fun to shake it up taking on issues that make audiences objectively consider all sides."