Barbara Walters finally had an announcement to make concerning her future. Late Sunday, ABC News confirmed that Walters will announce her retirement on The View today.
This move for the 83-year-old legendary journalist shouldn’t be a surprise. It has been long rumored, with a report in March suggesting that ABC News was already preparing to go all out with a celebration of her career. However, just days later, she told viewers that she had “no announcement” to make. It turns out that she was only waiting for the right moment to make the announcement on her terms.
“I am very happy with my decision and look forward to a wonderful and special year ahead both on The View and with ABC News,” Walters said in a statement. “I created The View and am delighted it will last beyond my leaving it.”
Walters created the daytime talk show in 1997 and will stay on as executive producer.
She started at NBC in 1961, working on The Today Show. She rose through the ranks and became co-host. In 1976, she moved to ABC, becoming the first woman to anchor an evening news broadcast on Evening News. She then became the host of the network’s newsmagazine 20/20.
“No one was more surprised than I,” she said about her career. “I wasn’t beautiful, like many of the women on the program before me, [and] I had trouble pronouncing my r’s. I still do!”
In an interview with The New York Times, Walters confirmed that she is not leaving ABC News for any other network.
“I keep thinking of the line from Cabaret,” she told the Times. ““ ‘When I go, I’m going like Chelsea.’ When I go there is not going to be any, ‘Please can I have another appearance?’ I don’t want to do any more interviews. I don’t want to do any other programs. I’m not joining CNN. This is it.”
image: ABC