Rosie O'Donnell to return as co-host on 'The View'

NEW YORK -- Rosie O'Donnell is back on "The View" for a most unexpected second act.

ABC said Thursday that O'Donnell will return to the daytime chatfest, whose couch is nearly empty with the on-air retirement of show creator Barbara Walters and impending departures of Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd.

O'Donnell, the veteran comedian and daytime host, spent a combative eight months on "The View," ending in 2007. She feuded with since-departed conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

O'Donnell came back as a guest on "The View" earlier this year, a sign that relations had thawed.