The View co-host Ana Navarro says she has tested negative for COVID-19 twice after she was whisked off the stage with co-host Sonny Hostin earlier today before they were scheduled to greet Vice President Kamala Harris.
Co-hosts Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin were booted from Friday morning’s live broadcast after returning the positive results at the eleventh hour. The bombshell news caused chaos on the show’s set and forced Harris to delay her interview, which was eventually conducted via video link from another room at ABC’s New York studios.
Navarro, who only co-hosts the show a few times a week, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday night that she is ‘tested weekly’ and has since tested negative for the virus twice.
‘All of sudden it turned into an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ she told Cooper.
She told Cooper she and Hostin were taken to their dressing rooms where they received an antigen and a PCR test and had to wait there until they got their results. Navarro declined to reveal Hostin’s results, but revealed her original test was a ‘false positive.’
“The View” guest host Ana Navarro breaks down the awkward moment she and her co-host learned they had tested positive for Covid-19 while on-air. She has since tested negative.
“This is in the middle of live TV,” says Navarro. “As you know, Anderson, the show must go on.” pic.twitter.com/mlpp9hEO6L
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) September 25, 2021
The View co-host Ana Navarro told CNN’s Anderson Cooper she has since tested negative for COVID-19 twice since being whisked off stage earlier today during the live broadcast of the show and that she is ‘tested weekly’
Curb Your Enthusiasm: The co-hosts looked stunned as they received the news ahead of the highly-anticipated interview
The pair were dramatically ordered off set seconds before Harris walked out in front of a live audience, leaving producers scrambling
Navarro and Hostin were sitting on stage alongside co-hosts Joy Behar and Sara Haines shortly after 10am Friday as they prepared to welcome Harris to their table. But the introduction was dramatically interrupted by showrunner Teta, who yelled for Hostin and Navarro to leave the room.
‘I had just been told in our ears that we are,’ she said when Cooper rolled the tape showing the stunned reactions of the two women, ‘We’re like: “What did you just say? Did I just hear you right?” And this was in the middle of live TV.’
As the women were finding our about the rapid test results came back positive, co-host Joy Behar could be heard on the show, which aired live earlier today, saying: ‘There seems to be something happening here that I’m not 100 per cent aware of. Can someone please reprise me on the situation?’
As Navarro and Hostin made their exit, Behar tried to keep the showing moving forward with the Harris interview, but it was ultimately delayed and the Vice President later appeared via video call.
‘As you know, Anderson, the show must go on,’ Navarro told Cooper on his show.
Earlier today, an ABC insider accused The View of ‘monumental failure’ after the two co-hosts were pulled from their chairs, claiming it was a ‘security risk.’
‘This is a monumental failure on the part of the showrunner Brian Teta, ABC News’ Kim Goodwin and Disney’s Peter Rice,’ the anonymous insider exclusively told DailyMail.com.
‘This is a national security risk. Had Sunny and Ana actually met Kamala, she would’ve been at risk. What an utter waste of her time. I doubt we’ll be able to book her again.’
Behar and Haines were left on stage, scrambling to fill air time. The pair spent several minutes taking viewer questions in scenes described by one columnist as ‘an absolute train wreck.’ Harris was eventually set up in a back room, and conducted a shortened interview with Behar and Haines remotely.
The ABC insider says Friday morning’s broadcast blunder was indicative of the chaos that occurs behind the scenes at the daytime show.
‘It shows how poorly mismanaged the show is… Kim Goodwin and Peter Rice need to step in and take control of this show, as it truly is a s**t show that they both have no control over.’
The ABC insider told DailyMail.com that Behar – who is 78 years old – has been particularly concerned about contracting COVID, and that lax testing had put the veteran star at risk.
‘Joy is an elderly woman pushing 80, regardless of her vaccination status, she needs to be protected and they have failed in their duty of care,’ the source fumed.
‘Over the summer, Joy had been very vocal to ABC management about her concerns returning to the studio, they could’ve exposed her to great danger.
‘Remember Joy was one of the first hosts to work from home when the pandemic began. This is just simply unacceptable to do this to her.
The source said The View’s original co-creator, Barbara Walters, once had tight control over the production.
However, they claimed the show has spiraled out of control since Teta joined six seasons ago.
‘Brian has no control at all. Had Barbara Walters still been there none of this would’ve been allowed to happen.
‘Barbara used to run this place with an iron fist, Brian just rolls over and lets chaos ensue. The hosts have too much power, they literally answer to no one.
‘His a** should be on the line for this.’
The source said The View’s original co-creator, Barbara Walters, once had tight control over the production. However, they claimed the show has spiraled out of control since Brian Teta (pictured) joined six seasons ago.
‘Barbara used to run this place with an iron fist’: The source said The View’s original co-creator, Barbara Walters, once had tight control over the production. She is pictured on her final day on The View in 2014
Harris’ introduction was dramatically interrupted by showrunner Teta, who yelled for Hostin and Navarro to leave the room
Harris did not come out to the stage, instead conducting her interview with Behar and Haines via video link from a room elsewhere at the ABC studios
After Hostin and Navarro were taken off set, Behar was left to explain to the audience what had happened.
‘Sunny and Ana both apparently tested positive for COVID. No matter how hard we try, these things happen,’ she stated.
‘They probably have a breakthrough case and they will both be okay, I’m sure, because they are both vaccinated’.
A spokesperson from the Vice President’s Office told DailyMail.com: ‘The Vice President did not have contact with the hosts before the show. Her schedule today will continue as planned.’
The VP flew back to Washington DC this afternoon, where she is expected to meet with the Prime Ministers of Australia, India and Japan. It is unclear when she will next see President Joe Biden face-to-face.
The View hosts Sunny Hostin (second right) and Ana Navarro (far right) were dramatically ordered off set after testing positive for COVID ahead of an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday
Media critics and viewers were left aghast at the drama which unfolded live on air.
‘Vice President Harris apparently is waiting backstage. Behar now taking questions from the audience. An absolute train wreck,’ The Hill columnist Joe Concha tweeted.
‘Two hosts (vaccinated) on @TheView were rushed off stage during the show after testing positive for COVID-19, following their self-righteous condemnation of the unvaccinated. You can’t make it up,’ Madison Gesiotto Gilbert wrote.
Tomi Lahren chimed in: ‘Wait wait WHAT?! These women on @TheView just get done preaching about COVID and health and safety and how bad the unvaccinated are and no sh*t in the commercial break 2 of them have to leave because they have…wait for it…COVID!’
She added: ‘Well apparently the super health cautious ladies of @TheView may be the super spreaders they lecture you about!’
It’s unclear why ABC’s COVID-19 testing results were received at the eleventh hour. It is also unclear if everyday hosts are tested daily or weekly. Navarro, who only hosts a few days a week, reported she is usually ‘tested before I come into the building.’
The interview with VP Harris had long been in the works and had been vigorously promoted by the network in recent days.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the network for comment.
Joy Behar and Sara Haines were left scrambling after the news was announced. Harris’ interview was delayed
News of The View’s COVID-19 chaos comes on the same day that President Biden told frontline workers and those over the age of 65 who got the Pfizer vaccine to get booster shots. His order came after CDC director Rochelle Walensky overruled her own agency’s advisory panel in a rare move late Thursday night and added a recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine boosters for people at risk because of their jobs.
‘You’re over 65 years of age, go get a booster. Or if you have a medical condition like diabetes, or you’re a frontline worker like a health care worker or a teacher, you can get a free booster now,’ Biden said in remarks at the White House Friday.
The CDC committee voted against recommending use for those are at risk due to an ‘occupational or institutional settings,’ claiming there wasn’t enough data to make such a recommendation.
The decision only applies to those who have received the Pfizer vaccine. The FDA has yet to weigh Moderna Inc’s application for boosters and Johnson & Johnson Inc. has not yet filed an application.
President Joe Biden urged 60 million Americans who got the Pfizer vaccine, primarily those over 65, to get booster shots
A spokesperson from the Vice President’s Office told DailyMail.com: ‘The Vice President did not have contact with the hosts before the show. Her schedule today will continue as planned.’ She is pictured on Thursday