When it comes to the daytime talk show that made her a star, Jedediah Bila has an unexpected point of view.
In a sneak peek of the Behind the Table podcast's next episode, shared exclusively with E! News, Bila dished on her experience as the conservative voice on The View during seasons 20 and 21. Speaking with current co-host Sunny Hostin, the former Fox & Friends Weekend co-host recalled facing interview questions after she exited the show in September 2017 about what it was really like working on The View.
"They were very surprised that I didn't trash the show," she told Hostin, "because my experience was actually really good." Before she stepped into the role, she confessed, Bila was "nervous" about taking the job because of the drama she read took place at the show.
"You know me—I don't do drama at work," she told Hostin. "I don't like it. I don't flourish in it and I wasn't used to it and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm going to walk into this and it's going to be constant stress.'"
Yet, "for me," she said, "that was not my experience."
While she acknowledged viewers see the co-hosts get heated "because we all feel so strongly about these issues," behind the scenes, there were no squabbles among her table of co-hosts, which included Hostin, Sara Haines, Paula Faris, Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar.
"There was not one fight that we had off-set," she said. "There was not one close to argument. There was zero."
Hostin agreed, adding, "Never."
That hasn't been the case for her successor, Meghan McCain, who officially joined the View table as a regular co-host mere weeks after Bila's departure. After stepping down from the conservative seat in August, McCain has not held back about her own experience on the long-running show, calling the environment "toxic."
"For whatever reason, there's a deep level of misogyny about the way The View is covered and written about in the media, where tabloids are always writing about the co-hosts hating each other backstage," she said in part of an except from her upcoming audiobook, Bad Republican, published by Variety. "It's a self-fulfilling prophecy because the atmosphere of The View breeds drama: producers can't control hosts, manage conflict or control leaking. My take on the show is that working at The View brings out the worst in people. I believe that all the women and the staff are working under conditions where the culture is so f--ked up, it feels like quicksand."
In response to the book excerpt, an ABC spokesperson told E! News, "For 25 years, The View has been a platform on air and behind the scenes for strong women. Live television and different perspectives can often lead to surprising moments, but the team is collaborative and supportive—focused on delivering an informative daily talk show to our loyal viewers."
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, McCain told host Andy Cohen, referring to herself, "Only one person was bullied out of their job and doesn't work there anymore."
The new episode of Behind the Table drops on Oct. 26.