Rosie Perez doesn't know if 'The View' has anything special planned for her last show
At Monday's "Southpaw" premiere, Rosie Perez opened up about her upcoming departure from "The View," saying she wasn't certain anything special was planned for her send-off.
"I kind of said my goodbye," said Perez. "I don't know what the show is going to do, if they're going to do anything."
Perez became teary earlier this month, when she told the daytime talk show's audience that she was leaving the Hot Topics table. But telling her co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Nicolle Wallace was even more difficult, she said.
"It took me a long time to dial Nicolle's number and even longer to dial Whoopi's number, but I knew I had to tell them first before I told the rest of the crew," Perez said. "Whoopi actually made it easier. She's like, 'Do what you got to do, baby.'"
Her last show is scheduled to air on Aug. 6.
Perez's contract status at the daytime talk show has been intensely scrutinized for months after Variety reported in January that "View" producers were unhappy with her work and might fire the co-host. ABC temporarily backtracked on those plans. However, they are shaking up the panel at the daytime talk show by bringing in fresh blood in the form of former Disney Channel star Raven Symone, comedian Michelle Collins and two other yet-to-be-announced names.
Perez maintains that the choice to leave the show was hers, and that she is excited to concentrate on her acting career.
"It was just time," she said. "I woke up and I told my husband, 'It's time.' It was that simple."
Perez seemed to struggle to find her place alongside such strong personalities as Goldberg and former co-host Rosie O'Donnell, but said she felt more comfortable during her final months in the job.
"I felt like I came into my own on the show," she said. "I felt confident and secure just being myself. Maybe that was part of the reason. I was like, I mastered this, I'm doing good, now let me see what else I can do."
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