NEW YORK — Rosie O’Donnell will return to ABC’s “The View” this September for a most unexpected second act.

ABC announced Thursday, via Twitter, that O’Donnell will join Whoopi Goldberg on the nearly empty couch at the daytime chatfest. Show creator Barbara Walters retired this spring from on-air appearances, Sherri Shepherd announced she was leaving after seven years, and ABC didn’t renew the contract of Jenny McCarthy after only one season.

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Rosie O’Donnell will join Whoopi Goldberg on the nearly empty couch at the daytime chatfest in September. The Associated Press

The roundtable has generally had five hosts, including Walters, throughout its history. This season there are four.

O’Donnell, the veteran comedian whose daytime talk show was wildly popular in the 1990s, spent a combative eight months on “The View,” ending in 2007. She frequently made news, feuding with the likes of Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch, and the show’s ratings went up. But after a nasty on-air argument with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, O’Donnell asked to be let out of her contract.

Hasselbeck is gone now; she left “The View” to join Fox News Channel.

O’Donnell briefly hosted a talk show on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network, but it drew little interest. She came back as a guest on “The View” in February, a sign that relations had thawed.

ABC’s tweet was its only comment Thursday on O’Donnell’s return. O’Donnell’s spokeswoman didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.

O’Donnell was moderator of “The View” during her eight months. Goldberg has assumed that role, and is expected to keep it.

ABC hasn’t commented on who is under consideration to join Goldberg and O’Donnell.

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