You might be surprised to learn that Meredith Vieira has quite the funny bone.
The TV personality showed off her comedic talents while telling the story of how she almost appeared on Saturday Night Live exclusively with E! News' Daily Pop on June 28.
Back when cast member Molly Shannon was on the show, Vieira was set to appear in a sketch with Chris Kattan's character Mango, which ultimately got cut. "They sent Molly in to tell me," she told hosts Justin Sylvester and Loni Love, "and I was really upset."
Later, she was offered a chance to make up for her scrapped role (which involved holding a whip) in the episode's opening sketch with Tim Meadow's Ladies Man. "They had three women who were playing 'skank hoes,'" Vieira recalled. "And Molly said, 'Do you wanna be one of the skank hoes?' And I felt like, 'I don't wanna be a skank hoe.' And now, I wish I had been a skank hoe. I wish."
While she has yet to make her SNL debut, the former Today host recently broke out her comedy chops for the Peacock special Would it Kill You to Laugh? with comedians John Early and Kate Berlant.
"I told my kids—who range in age from 29 to 33—that I was going to be doing this Peacock special," she shared, "and they said, 'With whom?' And I said, 'John [Early] and Kate [Berlant].''"
Perhaps it's her daughter, Lily Cohen's, reaction to the news that is the funniest thing of all. Vieira said, "My daughter's first reaction was, 'Why you? Why would they pick you?'"
The 68-year-old wasn't worried about embarrassing her grown children, as she told Daily Pop she was "thrilled" to be a part of the special, calling its stars "really, really talented."
Before her latest gig, Vieira took a trip down memory lane and reunited with her original The View co-hosts Joy Behar, Star Jones and Debbie Matenopoulos for the show's 25th anniversary. And though Barbara Walters wasn't able to join them, Vieira stated that her former colleague was a bit of a "taskmaster."
"Everything that she has done in her career she has earned, and she expects the same from you," she said. "So, you have to be on your toes with Barbara. She could turn on you, and not in a mean way."
Despite some tough experiences with Walters, Vieira revealed that the show would have likely been canceled if not for the TV legend.
"Because of Barbara, ABC kept it on the air," the host shared. "And it wasn't syndicated, too, which makes a difference. Syndication, they don't spend a lot of time before they pull the plug on that."
Check out the full interview above.
Would it Kill You to Laugh? starring Kate Berlant and John Early is available to stream on Peacock.
(E! and Peacock are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)