Rosie O’Donnell confirmed her physical well-being is the reason behind her decision to exit “The View.”
“(My health) got a little bit worse right before the holidays,” she told The Hollywood Reporter on Saturday at the Athena Film Festival in New York.
Aside from her health issues, O’Donnell also faces another challenge with the ending of her two-year marriage to partner Michelle Rounds.
“This is very stressful,” a source close to the comedien told the Daily News. “She’s splitting from her wife; she has two teenagers and a baby.”
O’Donnell, 52, and Rounds married in 2012, but have been living apart for at least three months.
“I can confirm that Rosie and her wife, Michelle, split in November,” O’Donnell’s rep, Cindi Berger, told The News in a statement.
“All you have to do is go on Instagram,” O’Donnell told THR. “You can see she’s not in the house with me. It’s been since Thanksgiving.”
The “A League of Their Own” star had to prioritize the current chaos in her life, and her health and career commitments came first.
“I can’t really fix (my personal life) right away, but I can fix (my job),” she said. “So I spoke to them at ABC, and I told them, and they understood. They’ve been unbelievably supportive and loving.”
She only just returned to the hit show in September 2014, joined by newcomers Rosie Perez and Nicolle Wallace. The actress’ initial split from “The View” followed her debut in 2006 when she replaced Meredith Vieira. O’Donnell exited then after one season.
“Rosie is an immensely talented star who comes in each and every morning brimming with ideas, excitement and passion for the show,” ABC said in a statement. “When she told us that she wanted to exit ‘The View,’ we respected and understood her desire to put her well-being and her family first.”
O’Donnell’s departure this time may be just as sudden as the announcement she’d be leaving the daytime talk show.
“Next week will probably be her last week,” a source close to the situation said. “She’ll probably talk about it on the show on Monday.”
So what do her co-hosts — Perez, Wallace and Whoopi Goldberg — have to say about it?
“Everyone cares about each other — nobody wants to do anything that’s going to affect someone’s health, so they get it,” O’Donnell said. “Not everything works out as you planned, but you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
She also confessed to not knowing what tomorrow holds for her and Rounds, either.
“We’re separated; we’re not living together, and, like most married couples I know, we’re trying to figure it out,” she said. “And I love her very much and she loves me.”
by Zayda Rivera
