Jenny McCarthy, Sherri Shepherd on Exiting 'The View'
Shepherd gave a tearful goodbye after seven years on the show.
July 7, 2014 — -- "The View" co-hosts Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd today addressed what Whoopi Goldberg called a "giant neon pink gorilla in the room" after last week’s news that the two will be leaving the hit show.
"Let me tell you what is going on,” McCarthy told the audience. “I am so grateful to have worked with Barbara Walters in her last year, along with many producers and co-hosts.“After much consideration, I've taken a new job which allows me to do what I do best, which is talk without having to interrupt anyone."
WATCH: Sherri Shepherd, Jenny McCarthy Leaving 'The View'
McCarthy, 41, even teased about her new job, which she will announce in the coming weeks, and that it might "compete" with "The View."
Shepherd, 47, added a tearful tribute on why she was leaving the show.
"A lot of those people close to me and some of the producers here, they've known since the spring that I did not intend to return to the show after my contract ends in August," she said.
"I'm a woman of faith and seven in the bible is the number of God's completion. And I've been here seven years, and my time with 'The View' is complete. ... I'm going to forever be grateful to Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie for taking a chance on an actress and a comedian and making me learn things and making me step out of my comfort zone, for giving me a chance when everybody said I shouldn't be at this table."
She added some strong sentiments about current and past co-hosts.
"Elisabeth Hasselbeck is my sister for life, Joy Behar is my sister for life ... You have been a mentor to me [to McCarthy]. I love you so much Whoopi Goldberg," she said. "Whoopi Goldberg has had my back, even when I didn't appreciate it, she's always had my back."
She also gave some highlights from her time at "The View."
"I've been blessed to interview Barack Obama and Bill Clinton," she said. "I get the chance to call Oprah Winfrey a friend, and that's a long way from being a legal secretary who wanted to tell jokes for a living."
Shepherd added she has plans for what's next and plans to come back as a guest. "I plan to come back to promote the work," she said of her new project.
She continued with some advice for the audience: "Step out, do something that makes you scared because this scared me to do 'The View' ... I love the cast and crew who t ok me in and made me feel like this is my family. I love you, I love you."