Julie Chen Moonves Reveals Two Former Cohosts Were Behind Her Exit From 'The Talk'

Julie Chen Moonves is opening up about why she actually left The Talk in 2018, and it has to do with two former cohosts.

During an interview with E! News, the news anchor reflected on the complicated time.

Keep reading to find out what she said…

“I never revealed it before but, in the audio memoir, I talk about how when I gave that public statement, I said, ‘I’ve decided to leave,’” Julie said. “It was decided for me by two former cohosts, who said that if I came back for season nine, that they wouldn’t be there. So I had to leave.”

She continued, “It’s one thing if you feel like you’ve had the rug pulled out from under you. It’s another thing when you have it done by people you were so close to and you considered friends. So, that was a hard time.”

Fortunately, the television personality was able to find a silver lining.

“The good news is, when you fall down and you look up, whose hand is extended? God,” she said. “I mean, it was all of those events that led me to start a relationship with God after 48 years of ignoring him. So, I’m actually very thankful.”

Julie recalled experiencing “growing pains” with former cohost Leah Remini as early as the first season of the show.

She remembered, “I had gone on vacation, only to come back to a very icy room to find out that, while I was gone, there was movement, and part of that movement was someone that I was the closest to on the show, which was Leah Remini. Ultimately, she and someone else went to the network and said, you know, ‘Her or us next season.’ And the decision was made that I would come back and she didn’t get her contract picked up.”

That led to Julie and the Kevin Can Wait actress not speaking for eight years.

“I even ran into her and she tried to apologize and I was so foolish and hard-hearted and stubborn,” Julie shared. “And it took my personal relationship with God, knowing God and knowing the power of forgiveness, that I reached out to her.”

According to Julie, they’ve resolved their issues since. “Now, we laugh, we’re closer than ever,” she told E!. “But it was eight years of my foolishness that were wasted.”

In her new audio memoir But First, God, the producer gets into all the details of her fallout and reconciliation with Leah.