The View Makes it Official: Alyssa Farah Griffin Wins Panel's Fifth Seat

Former Trump administration official Alyssa Farah Griffin is officially joining The View.

The daytime talk show confirmed her hiring Thursday morning, a week after reports emerged that she had been tapped to fill the conservative seat vacated by Meghan McCain last year.

Longtime guest co-host Ana Navarro was also named an official co-host Thursday. According to Variety, Navarro has signed a multi-year agreement to appear on the show several days a week, flying back and forth from her home in Miami to New York.

Griffin, who served as the White House Director of Special Communications under Trump, won The View's conservative chair — one of the most high-profile, and highly-scrutinized, jobs on television — over Lindsey Granger, Stephanie Grisham (another ex-Trumper), and Tara Setmayer. She appeared on the ABC daytime show 29 times throughout Season 25, and endeared herself to the regular co-hosts by disavowing her former boss, criticizing Fox News, and sparring with other Republicans, including Kellyanne Conway.

Though she has distanced herself from Trump and is critical of her party's allegiance to him, Griffin's hiring is not without controversy.

Wanda Sykes reportedly bailed on an appearance last month on The View upon learning that Griffin would be co-hosting the episode. "She didn't want to be part of helping a Trumper launder her reputation," a source told The Daily Beast of Sykes' abrupt cancellation. And after word of her hiring first leaked last week, the hashtag  #BoycottTheView began trending on Twitter, with some viewers threatening to stop watching if Griffin was named the new co-host. 

"It is such an honor to be with you ladies on this set," Griffin said after being welcomed to the table by Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin. She went on to reference her controversial past, saying "I worked for an administration that I ended up speaking against and I am so proud to have found my voice... I'm so excited for it, I'm ready for it."

"We're finally putting a ring on it! I want to thank the very loyal view fans," said Navarro. "I love love love this show."

The View's 25th season wraps this Friday, August 5. Griffin and Navarro are set to make their official co-host debuts when the show returns from its summer hiatus in September.

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Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.