Set your DVRs: Raven-Symoné has joined ‘The View’

As if we needed another reason to call in sick to watch morning TV, here comes Raven-Symoné to close the deal. That’s right, R-S has officially been named a permanent co-host on The View.

Whoopi Goldberg made the announcement during The View’s live telecast today. Then confetti cannons erupted as Raven-Symoné walked out onto the stage, like a daytime TV rock star (that’s a thing, OK?).

“I remember coming to show with the Cheetah Girls when I was 15,” she explained later on in the episode. A lot has changed since she killed it in a Disney girl band. She’s been on Broadway, she’s been on Oprah, she’s been on Empire. And now she’s in the talk show inner-circle. “I’m very happy to be sitting with these smart, talented mentors,” she raved about co-hosts Whoopi, Nicolle Wallace and Rosie Perez.

The youngest panelist at age 29, she admits she has “a lot to learn within this new arena, but being the apprentice of these spectacular women will only make me a better person and talk show host.”

Humble as she is, she’s actually already guest-hosted the show 37 times before. Raven-Symoné may lack long-time talk show experience, as has been suggested, but she doesn’t shy away from controversy, or even saying some regrettable things on air (see The Root’s list here). And controversy has been The View’s bread and butter since the get-go. Think of every gulp-worthy thing that’s been uttered on the series over the years.

Now, the Daily Beast’s Kevin Fallon thinks Raven-Symoné’s lack of self-censoring could help keep viewers engaged. “Speaking freely (and occasionally like a lunatic) is her job,” writes Fallon. “Now it’s a daily one. And boy is she good at it.”

Whatever your opinions are on Raven-Symoné, or any of the other View panelists, past or present, I think we can all agree that they’ve got our attention.

Image via here.