The Talk returned to television screens across the country on Monday, April 12—and Sharon Osbourne was nowhere to be seen.
As fans learned on March 26, Osbourne—an original co-host of the show for 11 seasons—left the show following the controversy that erupted over the series’ March 10 episode. While there was no chair left for Osbourne, co-hosts Amanda Kloots, Elaine Welteroth, Sheryl Underwood and Carrie Ann Inaba, who was not on the show on March 10, were present for the first episode on Monday since The Talk‘s brief hiatus.
“It’s time for an episode of The Talk that will be unlike any other we’ve had before,” Underwood said as she began the show alone backstage. “We haven’t been together at the studio since the week of March 10, and as you may know, during our break, Sharon decided to leave The Talk. We need to process the events of that day and what happened since, so we can get to the healing. Over the next hour we will honestly discuss what occurred and explore some of our feelings, and we’ll also show you how anyone can become more comfortable with discussing important issues and having difficult conversations. And by the end of the hour, we want everyone to feel empowered and ready to move forward. So, let’s start talking.”
During their weeks away, Inaba explained that they’ve been in “healing sessions,” led by diversity and equity experts, both individually and as a group. Now back together, they unpacked the sequence of events on March 10 from their own points of view with the help of Dr. Donald Grant, who moderated the conversation.
