Come September, Rosie O'Donnell will be back on daytime with a new talk show on Oprah's OWN network, which the former Queen of Nice says she finds "exciting, scary -- and right."
"I feel like everything's sort of aligned now," the former View cohost says. "I've been offered other shows over the years, but it never felt like the right time. There was something about getting to do it for OWN, with Oprah's sensibility, her touch, her world presence—what she stands for and who she is—that felt like a gift."
The show, Rosie says, won't be as celebrity-focused as her past ventures. It will focus on a single top for an hour and talk about real people and real issues -- happy stuff too, of course.
The mother of four says it will be an adjustment for her and her family to get back to the daily grind.
"I've been off TV for so long that sometimes my kids forget I'm famous," she says. "We'll go out and they'll be like, 'Why does everyone talk to you?' and I'll say, 'Before you were born, I had a TV show.' When you're at home being a mom, you're isolated. To go back to having a staff and working relationships—you have to open yourself up again. I had a plan until I was 40: Be as successful as possible and then retire. My mom died at 39, so I never thought beyond that. It didn't occur to me that my life would have a part two."
For more on how Rosie's life has changed since her super successful Rosie O'Donnell Show, ch-check out this feature on Oprah's website.
See you in September, Ro!