In 2010, actress Leah Remini was cast as one of the original hosts of "The Talk" alongside Sharon Osbourne, Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Holly Robinson Peete. Though the "King of Queens" actress says she was ready for a new challenge after nearly a decade of sitcom television, Remini tells "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" how frightening it was to put herself out there.
"Starting 'The Talk' was scary… the moment I walked out on the stage I was like, 'Oh, I don't want to say anything cause I really don't like to say things that piss people off,'" she shares.
Hosting a talk show turned out to be different than what she thought it would be. "You have to know what you're going to say, and especially dealing with celebrities, pain in the asses that we are, there are certain things publicists tell you: 'Don't talk about this. Don't talk about that.' And it's really quite annoying," Remini says.
Nevertheless, the show quickly gained a following and when Season 1 wrapped up, fans were surprised to learn that Remini and Peete were not asked to return. At the time, Remini took to Twitter to criticize Sharon Osbourne for her role in their dismissal, igniting a public feud between the two women.
"Sharon thought me and Holly were 'ghetto'…we were not funny, awkward and didn't know ourselves…" Remini tweeted.
"…my only wish is that Leah would just stop all this negative, unprofessional and childish behavior…it's time to move on." Osbourne fired back.
Now that some time has passed, Remini is no longer interested in playing the blame game. "When you look back on situations, you have to look back on maybe what you did that contributed to it," she says. "Certainly there were things on the other side that contributed to it. But to come off as a victim is just not something that I want to do."
Related
Before You Go
