Juicy Details About Lauren Sánchez Bezos' Drama-Filled Past With The View

Long before marrying Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez Bezos had a successful career as an in-demand media personality. She was an anchor on "Good Day L.A." for six years, the original host of "So You Think You Can Dance," and even landed several scripted TV and film roles, typically playing a reporter. However, one gig that repeatedly eluded Lauren was a permanent co-hosting job on "The View." While Lauren Sánchez Bezos had some uncomfortable on-air moments as a news anchor, the real drama happened behind the scenes due to her quest to upgrade from guest co-host to fully-fledged full-timer.

While she has appeared on "The View" on multiple occasions over the years, a lesser-known fact about Lauren Sánchez Bezos is that she was rejected from a full-time position on the show not once, but twice. Her initial bid took place all the way back in 1999, when she actually became one of two finalists for a fixed seat at the iconic table. However, fellow finalist Lisa Ling ultimately landed the coveted position. Lauren once again found herself close to joining the long-running chat show in 2014, only this time around, it was probably a lot more awkward, given that she was up against October "Tobie" Gonzalez, the wife of Lauren Sánchez Bezos' ex-boyfriend and baby daddy, Tony Gonzalez. In the end, neither Lauren nor Tobie got the job, with the network pivoting to Nicole Wallace instead.

In a 2023 interview with the Wall Street Journal, Lauren Sánchez Bezos opened up about her 1999 attempt to join "The View" as a full-time co-host, sharing even more dramatic details regarding her history with the talk show, and potentially offering some insight into why Lisa Ling was chosen over her. According to Lauren, though she got along quite well with late series creator Barbara Walters, she and original cast member Star Jones very much got off on the wrong foot. The former news anchor didn't provide too many additional details regarding why she and Jones didn't get along but it's worth noting that, although she confirmed that Jones subsequently apologized to her, and the two buried the hatchet, Jones apparently declined to comment on the report.

At any rate, Lauren described the day she found out that she hadn't got the job as "one of the most devastating days of my life," confessing that she regularly broke down in tears for several days after the fact too. However, the qualified helicopter pilot believes it was all ultimately for the best. As Lauren asserted, if she had been hired to co-host "The View" in 1999, she most likely would not have had her eldest son Nikko, who was born in 2001, and whom she shares with the aforementioned Tony Gonzalez. Reflecting on her many failed auditions during an appearance on "The View" itself, in 2024, the former journalist seemed more than happy to look back on the whole experience and laugh about it, though she still remarked that it was quite stressful at the time.