Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin’s surprise absences force big changes at The View

The View recently returned from a Thanksgiving week off, but things did not return to normal as expected.

Whoopi Goldberg opened the first of the weekly shows by declaring that Sara Haines was absent but did not share why she wasn’t there on set.

As Monsters and Critics recently reported, tensions on The View were high as Whoopi snapped at Sunny Hostin over the required legal disclaimers cutting into the segment times.

Sara’s absence at the beginning of the week could have caused Whoopi to be edgy since they are close friends on and off the set.

Anyone expecting Sara’s speedy return to The View got a surprise upset as not only was she absent, but so were Alyssa Farah Griffin and Joy Behar.

According to Whoopi, these three absences from The View forced the show to make unexpected changes at the last minute.

Whoopi announced a big shakeup at The View

Many were expecting Sara to be back today, especially after she posted on Instagram and did not mention being sick in any way.

Her Instagram posts shared photos of her life, from the sound of Josie Balka to her What If It All Goes Right poem.

However, everything did not go right on The View, as Whoopi announced that former cohost Abby Hunstman and television personality Rachel Lindsay would fill in for the missing ladies.

Rachel Lindsay was on The Bachelorette Season 13 and seemed happy enough to be included in the lineup.

It is unusual for three of the ladies, this time Sara, Alyssa, and Joy, to be missing from their seats on The View.

Whoopi addressed the audience as the show started: “If you’re wondering what’s going on, there’s nothing wrong with your television set. Joy is not here, Sara is not here, and Alyssa is not here today.”

Abby, who cohosted for two seasons, shared that Brian Teta, executive producer of The View, was “in a pinch” when he asked her last minute to fill in on Monday night.

Abby said, “I think I was in my sweatpants, cleaning up mac and cheese off the floor. Brian was like, ‘We’re in a pinch.’ I’m like, ‘All right, well, if Whoopi’s there, yes, I’m here.”

At the time of this writing, there is no indication when the ladies will return to their seats at the table or if Abby and Rachel will continue filling in for them.

ABC may be testing the waters with the new ladies

Three of the ladies on The View have not had their contracts renewed, and the network may want to shake things up.

Sunny, Joy, and Whoopi all need their contracts renewed for the next season, so ABC may shake things up and try new voices.

Let’s hope this is terrible timing for the ladies out, and their abrupt absences happened simultaneously.

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.