Garcelle Beauvais has been in the entertainment industry for a long time now. So she’s had her fair share of auditions. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star reflected on one particularly “cringeworthy” audition in her memoir, Love Me as I Am.
As reported by Page Six, Garcelle took us back to her 2015 audition for the morning talk show The View. And she revealed that host Whoopi Goldberg’s behavior was a big surprise. Garcelle wrote, “I was shocked and appalled to see how testy Whoopi was with the show’s producers. I was embarrassed and disappointed, to say the least. It was cringeworthy!”
Garcelle was asked to audition for the show and jumped at the chance. She confessed that she always wanted to be a talk show personality. Garcelle continued in her book, “Here I was the eager new kid in class and I ran smack dab into the reality of an uninviting workplace.” She added, “There was a brief nonchalant recognition that I was the co-host up to bat that week. No greetings or welcoming niceties, just a hey and they continued on with the [top-of-the-morning] meeting [with producers]. Okay.”
While Garcelle left the audition thinking she did “pretty well,” she admitted that she wasn’t sure would happen. No one talked to her or provided her feedback. She explained, “The energy was cold, unfriendly and standoffish. The atmosphere was so opposite to my friendly nature and definitely not what I had expected or hoped for.” Ultimately, Garcelle decided the job was “not for [her].” But her dream of being talk show host happened when she joined The Real in 2020. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled 2 years later after an 8 season run.
As for her decision to include the Whoopi story in her memoir, Garcelle defended the choice. She laughed, “Because it happened! I’m not making this s–t up, you know what I mean? If these stories happened and it’s my memoir, then I’m talking about it. It was unfortunate because I’m still such a fan and even still record the show.” Garcelle noted, “I love what they do. I think they’re smart, and I love the cast, especially now. I think Sunny [Hostin]’s great.”
Despite the initially awkward run-in with Whoopi, Garcelle harbors not ill will. The two even reunited on a Lifetime movie this year. Said Garcelle, “I got reintroduced to Whoopi, and I think sometimes you don’t get a second chance like that. Sometimes you have to be open for a reintroduction.” Garcelle continued, “She’s an icon. And I get that. I would never take away from her in terms of what she was able to do in the industry way before a lot of us. So kudos to her for that.”
Clearly, Garcelle wants to give Whoopi the respect she is due, and even gave her a heads up about including her in the memoir. She concluded, “Of course I addressed it with Whoopi. She didn’t remember. But I told her because I didn’t want to go into the film like I was bamboozling her. That’s not my thing. So it was important that she knew that was in my book. We’re all good now.”
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT WHOOPI WAS REPORTEDLY TESTY? DO YOU THINK GARCELLE WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD HOST ON THE VIEW? DID YOU WATCH HER ON THE REAL?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]