Abby Huntsman announces she's leaving 'The View'
'The View' co-host Abby Huntsman is exiting the popular daytime talk show, opting to join her father's gubernatorial campaign in Utah.
ABC News’ “The View” co-host Abby Huntsman is exiting the popular daytime talk show, with her last day scheduled for Friday.
“This is always such a hard thing to do… but today I’m saying goodbye,” Huntsman said to open Monday’s show. “My No. 1 priority has always been my family.”
She said she will instead be helping her father, Jon Huntsman Jr., campaign for governor of Utah.
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"I couldn't be more excited to help someone I love," she said.
Fox News obtained a memo that the show’s executive producers sent to staff on Monday.
“We have some bittersweet news to share. Abby Huntsman is leaving The View to help run her father’s campaign for Governor of Utah and to spend more time with her young family. As you will see in her note below, she made the tough decision to move on over the holiday break,” producers wrote.
“From the moment Abby joined us a year and a half ago, we knew how important her big family is to her... When your father asks you to help run your campaign, it’s a hard one to say no to,” the producers added. “We thank Abby for her unique, intelligent, insightful and relatable voice that she brought to the show both in front of and behind the camera. We will truly miss her and her great spirit professionally and personally.”
Huntsman also sent a note to staffers, saying her time on the “iconic” show needed to come to an end in order to support her father.
Abby Huntsman announced she won’t be co-hosting “The View” alongside Joy Behar any longer. (Getty Images)
“After much deliberation over the holidays, I have decided to leave the show to dedicate myself full-time in support of my dad and his campaign for Governor of Utah,” she wrote. “You know I think the world of all of you... ABC will always hold a special place in my heart, and so will all of you.”
Huntsman’s official title will be senior advisor of her father’s campaign. A source close to the situation told Fox News that the former Utah governor asked his daughter for help last November when he decided to run for his old job.
Jon Huntsman Jr. left the governorship in the middle of his second term in 2009 to serve as ambassador to China in the Obama administration. He recently finished a two-year stint as ambassador to Russia under President Trump, which ended when he decided to return to Utah last year.
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His daughter’s departure from “The View” leaves fiery Meghan McCain as the show’s lone conservative voice.
“I am heartbroken you’re leaving,” McCain told Huntsman. "I'm so proud of you and I'm so happy for you."
The panel asked Huntsman if she would return to the show after her father’s campaign, and she left the door open by saying ABC will “always be family.”
“You never know, life is funny that way,” she said.
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
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