Back in April, Sara Gilbert shocked viewers when she made the announcement that she'd be leaving The Talk, which she founded in 2010 and served as both a co-host and executive producer on.
I'm nervous.This is hard to do and something that I have been struggling with for a while and going back and forth. But I've decided that it's time for me to leave the show at the end of the season.I obviously love it here and like I said, this was extremely difficult. Last season, I did The Conners, as you know, and was also producing, and here, and I loved it and felt totally empowered, but also if I'm being honest about it, I think my life was slightly out of balance and I wasn't able to spend as much time with my three kids as I'd like, and time for myself.
And as I've continued on, I'm starting to develop more things to produce and I'm having opportunities to act, and I'm just feeling like I don't know how I'm going to do it. I was looking at the next six months and just thinking, 'There's no time.' I'll look at even just small things in my life. My youngest is 4 years old and I still haven't made his baby book.
So just basic life things, but it's difficult because this is a place that I love and a place where I'm extremely happy," Gilbert tearfully said. "I love the hosts, I love the crew, I love our staff, I am so grateful to the audience for letting me in your homes everyday. It's been such an honor. I'm not going anywhere yet, I'll be here the rest of the season. I will come back as co-host, you're not going to get rid of me. I'll be around.
It was sad news, as Gilbert had been a mainstay and integral part of the show. However, her reasoning absolutely made sense and everyone supported her decision. It wasn't until Friday, August 2nd, Gilbert's official last day, that it really hit home she would be leaving the show for good. Each host took turns thanking Gilbert for all she had done, and it was extremely emotional.
Sheryl Underwood
Underwood first started on The Talk in 2011, and she recalled the first time she ever met Gilbert.
“I remember the day that I was interviewing, I went into a meeting and they said ‘well do you have time to meet Julie Chen and Sara Gilbert?’ and I said, ‘the girl from Roseanne?'” Underwood recalled.
“I said ‘yeah, yeah,’ and you could tell I was uncomfortable and nervous, but what I loved about that meeting was I felt like I was talking a little too long, and I said, ‘Whatever you do, keep this going for other people.'” Underwood continued. “You care about so many people, you created something that gave a lot of people a lot of work but you opened a lot of us into your lives. You didn’t know us from Adam. To be with you to see the courtship, the love, to be invited to your wedding as your wacky black cousin. I never thought in my life I would make a friend like you."
“Everyone needs a good friend that knows there are more in you than you understand, and you bring that out in people," Underwood said. "You are truly an example for others to follow, you are a good woman.”
Carrie Ann Inaba
Carrie Ann Inaba, who only joined the show in January, spoke about her short time with Gilbert and the lasting impression she left.
“I’m going to speak from my heart,” she began. “I was intimidated by you. But what I found sitting across from you, I always get to look right into your eyes, and what I learned is that you have the most beautiful and compassionate heart. I don’t think you always share it with everybody, but I feel so blessed that I could to sit this close for these past few months and share and feel the warmth of your heart.”
“What I love most about you is that that I learned so much how to have integrity for myself,” Inaba continued. “There is no way to look into your eyes and come to this table and not be my fullest self, because you expect nothing less from any of us. I appreciate you, because it is what you do. That is what you said at this table, and I am thinking you from the bottom of my heart, for creating this space, for all of us, and everyone at heart, where we can be out best selfs. Cheers to you.”
Eve
Rapper Eve is also a host on the show, and has been since 2017. She got emotional and began to cry as she bid farewell to Gilbert.
“It’s crazy because I didn’t think I would get this emotional,” she said. “I said this before, but I feel like I am very honored and lucky that you have opened up and have let me see this other part of you. Because it is so sweet, and it is so loving, and it is so encompassing. You make me feel like I can be more honest, you have helped me be more honest. I feel smarter sitting next to you, I do. Thank you so much, I feel very honored and happy I can call you a friend. I will miss you, everyday.”
Sharon Osbourne
“Coming everyday and seeing Sara, she can read me, I can read her,” Osbourne said through tears. “If there’s anything on my mind I tell Sara. Now I won’t have Sara here. While my husband has been sick, Sara has gone out of her way to find him little things that he knows he’ll like and buy for him. He considers her a friend, too.”
“It’s like a sister, she’s like a sister I never had,” she continued. “I can tell her things, and she gives me good advice, and I know if I tell her things it won’t go anywhere else. It’s like this sacred thing. It's like not having your sister with you anymore, it’s going to be hard. She’s here and still a producer on the show, and I know all the times when I’m not here, I’m sure Sara will sit in with me.”
Gilbert's Goodbye Speech
“You know I am always here for you, and I will always be there for all of you," Gilbert said to each of the women.
“Sheryl, I just want to say I respect you so much,” Gilbert began to Underwood. “You are so kind and warm hearted, and for people that don’t know at home, Sheryl is the kind of person that gives her shoes away to the audience after the show. You’ve overcome so much adversity in your life. You have been so brave to share it, you have become such a successful human being. Not just career, but what you’ve become and where you’ve gotten to. You inspire me everyday and I thank you for sharing this table with me.”
“You are so warm and kindhearted and so extremely generous," Gilbert gushed to Ibana. "I said to you, last night, you are a risk-taker, and you felt like you weren’t, but you’ve traveled in that direction. From the outside I see you as so free, and someone who is not afraid to show who they are and say what’s on their mind, and to me that’s the biggest risk of all. You really show yourself.”
“Eve, it’s funny because what I wanted to say to you is that there are some similarities to what you said to me,” Gilbert began to the rapper. “I think you guard your heart and you have such a beautiful spirit and I want to people to see that more, and I think they are.”
She went on to congratulate Eve for coming through the "dark situations" in her life and called her a "gift to people."
"Sharon, you know, I went to put my thoughts together, and I thought, what do I say?" Gilbert began. "It was that cliche of not having words.”
Gilbert admitted that she had wanted Osbourne on the show since the beginning, and that when they locked her down, Gilbert confided in Osbourne about her fears for the show.
“She said, ‘Just be yourself,’ and you gave me permission to do that over the years, and we’ve been there with each other, for each other,” Gilbert continued. “I have to figure out how to not see you everyday. I love you, and I know this is not goodbye, and I know we are going to be in each other’s lives, and I’ll make sure of that."
Gilbert's final words on the show were “Thank you for letting me belong, and thank you for listening."
Gilbert's Replacement
Of course, when one person leaves, another one needs to take her place. It was announced in May that the legendary Marie Osmond would be taking Gilbert's spot at the round table.
"After guest co-hosting and appearing as a guest on the show throughout the years, I am thrilled to now call this my day job," Osmond said in a statement. "I look forward to working with Sharon, Sheryl, Eve and Carrie Ann, who are such smart, strong, talented women whom I immensely respect. I cannot wait to share this exciting new chapter with the viewers and the CBS family."
Seeing Gilbert and the cast get so emotional over her departure really shows that this was more than just a TV show, it was a family for these women.