Raven-Symoné Says She ‘Got Catfished’ To Join ‘The View

There’s a new podcast that takes us behind the scenes from past and present moments from ABC’s daily talk show, The View. In the most recent episode of The View: Behind the Table (October 12), co-host Sara Haines sits down with former co-hosts Raven-Symoné, Candace Cameron Bure who were both on the show in 2015  for a candid conversation about the emotional ups and downs they both experienced on the show. 

The 35-year-old joined The View as co-host at the end of season 18 while Cameron Bure joined at the start of season 19. Both successful child actors, the two said they both felt pressured to speak up for the communities they represent; Cameron Bure a staunch Christian and Symoné who is part of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Symoné explained that after guest hosting a few times, she was asked to join the roundtable full time. However, she claims the way the daytime chat fest was originally pitched to her was quite different from her actual experiences, leaving her feeling “catfished.” 

“I got catfished,” Symoné said. “I thought I was going on a show, like Candace, where it was pop culture and fun and exciting and I got catfished, and I learned a good lesson.”

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Symoné notes that she was not aware that the show was going to turn so heavily into politics and had always shied away from those conversations. She also expressed being the only LGBTQ+ member of the roundtable conversation and pressured to be the face of her community. 

“The only reason I really got through a lot of the stuff that I did get through was because of Whoopi [Goldberg] and the producers as well,” she explained. “There is something amazing about behind the scenes of The View that kind of puts the salve over all the BS that’s going on on-camera that made it tolerable to stay as long as we did.”

Listen to the episode here.