Joy Behar Confirms She’s Leaving The View After Nearly 17 Years!

Joy Behar is departing ABC’s The View after 16 and-a-half years, RadarOnline.com is reporting.

According to Deadline, the 70-year-old co-host’s contract is said to be up in August and she has told the network she doesn’t plan to renew it.

“It seemed like the right time,” Behar told the entertainment news website. “You reach a point when you say to yourself, ‘Do I want to keep doing this? There are other things on my plate I want to do – I’ve been writing a play, I’ve been neglecting my standup.”

And Behar is also ready to host her own show, following successful stints on HLN and Current TV.

“I do like talk shows. I’m interested in talking to people,” she said. “I want to do an intelligent talk show where you have room to breath.”

ABC released a statement to Deadline on Friday afternoon about Behar’s exit from The View saying, “Joy Behar has been instrumental in the success of The View from the very beginning. We wish her all the best in this next chapter, and are thrilled that we have her for the remainder of the season.”

Behar also confirmed that she had a “positive meeting” with CNN president Jeff Zucker – but wouldn’t elaborate if she would get her own show on the news network.

However, with only a few months left on her contract, Behar realizes she’s going to miss Barbara Walters and her other The View co-hosts.

“I have a lot of friends there, and I will miss everyone I’ve worked with because we have a family there,” she said.

Singling out Walters, Behar revealed: “It is a smart talk show because somebody of her stature is leading the conversation; Barbara was one of the main reasons I took that job.”