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Emotional Co-Hosts of The Chew Address Cancellation On Air: "The Mood Is Sad Around Here..."
The Chew's Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, and Michael Symon hosted the first show since ABC's cancellation news.
ABC announced on May 23 that The Chew has been canceled after seven seasons amid ongoing sexual misconduct allegations about former host Mario Batali. The show will be replaced by a third hour of Good Morning America.
The remaining hosts, Bravo's Top Chef alum Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, and Michael Symon, first took to social media to comment on the cancellation. And then they got real about their feelings on the matter on today's episode, the first since the cancellation news broke.
“It’s an interesting day here at The Chew because most of you might have heard, some of you might not have, but The Chew has not been picked up for an eighth season — our seventh season is our last,” Kelly said.
The audience booed the announcement, but he tried to remain upbeat — or at least pragmatic — saying, "It's OK. These things happen.”
He continued, "The mood is a little sad around here, to be honest with you. There is a lot of people who work really hard on this show and really believe in this show and we’re all going to miss this show very, very much. We’re not going to talk about any trending topics today or hammer home the theme but we thought we’d spend the first segment of the show talking about our feelings.”
To that end, Symon had nothing but gushing memories of his time at The Chew: “I could count on a couple of fingers the days that I didn’t want to wake up at 5:30 and come to work. It has been the most fun I have every had in my life of any job I have ever had and it’s because of the fans."
He also shared that he had to stop reading all of the support coming in from fans after ABC's announcement because it was making him too "emotional."
Kelly became choked up during his remarks to his fellow co-hosts. “Nine years ago I decided I made a vow to live my life under three guiding principles and those are love, awe, and gratitude,” he said. “I am so grateful to have worked with you guys and gotten to know you for the past seven years because not only are you talented chefs and great TV personalities and really just generous cohosts, you’re also just good people."
Batali denies the allegations of sexual assault against him.
