After 7 years, Sherri
Sheppard will be leaving ABC’s popular daytime show "The View," along with Jenny
McCarthy, who also announced that she will be leaving the show as well.

In a statement released tonight, Sheppard stated that: “It’s
been seven wonderful years on ‘The View’ and after careful consideration it is
time for me to move on…I am extremely grateful to Barbara Walters and Bill
Gedde for giving me the opportunity. I look forward to the business
opportunities that lay ahead for me and I am incredibly grateful to my ‘View’
family and my fans for supporting me on this journey.”

According to Variety, there have been rumors since last fall that Sheppard was planning on leaving the show, and was “quietly
looking for new opportunities."

“Sherri
wants to stay on television, in either a hosting capacity or a sitcom. She’s
looking into various roles and putting her feelers out there. She’d love to
have her own talk  show, but that isn’t
her focus right at this moment.”

As for McCarthy, it’s likely that she was pushed
out of her job by the network, and the show’s producers, after several
controversial statements – especially her
vocal advocacy against vaccinating children – made her a target of outrage.

Of course, Whoopi
Goldberg is expected to stay on the show.