‘The View’ Adds CNN’s Ana Navarro as Guest Co-Host (EXCLUSIVE)

By Ramin Setoodeh

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “The View” is adding Republican strategist Ana Navarro as a guest co-host one day a week, Variety has learned.

Navarro will fill in on “” every Friday, rounding out the Season 22 panel with Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Meghan McCain, Sunny Hostin, and Abby Huntsman. Goldberg takes Fridays off as the moderator, which is why the show needs a sixth rotating cast member at the Hot Topics table.

According to sources, Navarro had been in talks to join “The View” as a full-time co-host in the fall, but those negotiations fell apart due to salary demands. In addition to her latest job, Navarro will continue as a contributor on CNN, talking about politics. Although she identifies as a Republican, Navarro has been critical of President Donald Trump’s policies and she voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

Ratings for Season 22 of “The View,” which was created by Barbara Walters in 1997, are up. The ABC talk show averaged 2.8 million viewers for the week of Oct. 22, beating out CBS’ “The Talk” (2.2 million viewers). That’s the biggest lead “The View” has had over “The Talk” in six years. In the coming weeks, the show has booked big guests from the political world, including Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, and John Kasich.

Navarro is expected to announce her new position on “The View” on Friday morning’s taping of the show.