'The Talk's' Julie Chen: It Was a Mistake for 'The View' to Bring on Jenny McCarthy

Julie Chen has let it be known that it was a mistake for The View to hire Jenny McCarthy as a panelist.

Chen, who is on the rival chat fest, The Talk, criticized the decision of McCarthy to join the ABC show in September. She made her opinion known while appearing on The Howard Stern show this past Wednesday with Sharon Osbourne beside her.

"Because what made The View so popular and so good was that it was five different women-from five different walks of life-discussing politics," Chen said.

The 43-year-old said that the show had strayed too much from its original format when it premiered in 1997.

"What put them on the map and made them good and famous, they don't do that anymore," she said. "No one wants to hear Jenny McCarthy talk about the New York mayoral race or politics. They don't. That's not what you put Jenny McCarthy on for."

Chen further explained that The VIEW was without direction. She did not believe that simply bringing in new faces was going to fix the perceived ills.

"And when Joy left and when Elisabeth left and they got Jenny in, I think they were trying to lighten the mood at the table-more gossip, more fun, more laughs...what happened was, in my opinion, The View doesn't know what it is now," she said.