Jon Kopaloff/Film Magic; Steve Granitz/WireImage.comThe Chenbot is pulling a reverse Meredith Vieira.
Rather than go from s femme-fueled daytime talk show to an early morning news program, Julie Chen is doing the opposite, announcing she will step down from her post at CBS' Early Show to fully devote herself to the Viewesque gabfest The Talk.
As revealed during a sneak peek of the show at TCAs this week, Chen will serve as the moderator of the woman-powered series (who'd she sleep with to get that job? Oh…), which will basically be a more niche version of ABC's mainstay…not that they're willing to cop to that. Think The View geared specifically for moms.
Joining her on the panel this fall will be chronic oversharers Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete, Sharon Obsourne, Melissa Jaret Winokur and the finally out-and-proud Sara Gilbert, who has two children with her longtime partner Allison Adler but has never officially acknowledged her sexuality in public.
Until this week.
Despite choosing not to include any mention of Adler in her press materials, the former Roseanne star came out while speaking about the new show.
"I've been acting my whole life, and I've never really discussed my personal life," she said. "This is a talk show. So obviously, I'm going to be discussing my life more, and I felt that the first place I wanted to do it wasn't in a CBS press release.
"It just seemed impersonal, and I felt like I'd rather come in person and talk to you about all that stuff here.
"This is a whole new world for me," she added. "I'm not an expert on this, or I don't analyze these things. I'm just sort of living my life. I plan to put my heart and soul into this show, and I plan to continue acting, and I don't think it will be a problem."
Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres certainly didn't have any problems with it.
There's no word yet on who will replace Chen on The Early Show.