2004 Honoree

Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Co-Host, The View

Written by Linda Pryzgodski

“That people are saying she got here the easy way. But I have been working hard all these years and I figured I needed to move forward and embrace it, respect it, and perfect it. If I didn’t then everybody would lose.”

From the Outback to daytime, the view is nothing but rosy for Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Elisabeth managed to excavate an on-camera television career out of widespread publicity from her role as a contestant on Survivor: The Australian Outback. She lost twenty-pounds and would have killed crew members for a Snickers bar, but her ascent to the final four on Survivor made her an instant start with the audience.

“I get worried sometimes that people are saying ‘why is she on television, is it because of Survivor,’” commented Hasselbeck. “That people are saying she got here the easy way. But I have been working hard all these years and I figured I needed to move forward and embrace it, respect it, and perfect it. If I didn’t then everybody would lose.”

Before packing her bags and heading into the Outback, Hasselbeck was a hugely successful shoe designer at Purna, who was also creating her own line of accessories. But when CBS called, she packed up for what she thought was the role of her life.

“I got a call sheet from Style Network for a show called The Look for Less,” explained Hasselbeck. “It was a show about designed looks on a budget, and that was me at the time. So, I slept on it and I called them the next day even though the call time had expired. They asked me if I had an agent and I said no. Then they asked me if I wanted to audition. I assumed they had already found someone, but they were like, ‘No Elisabeth we haven’t found anyone, come audition.”

It was an important move for the 1999 Boston College graduate. The spot on The Look for Less propelled her into her current seat as one of the hosts of ABC’s The View, a talk show created by Barbara Walters that features women with different backgrounds.

“My brother called me one day and said that Lisa Ling was leaving and they [The View] were going to audition for new on-air hosts”, said Hasselbeck. “I called my agent, and she said three words to me, ‘I’m on it.’ I had a phone interview with Bill Getty and he said he was going to give me a shot. Well, I made round one, then round two, and then got another four days later and here I am.”

Elisabeth was raised in Providence, Rhode Island and is married to NFL quarterback, Tim Hasselbeck. Currently, Elisabeth’s TV plate is full, but she continues to work on a line of greeting cards and paper accessories that has been a dream of hers for six years.