LOS ANGELES – The Greek-American former host of The View, Debbie Matenopoulos, spoke about her personal life and experiences with nine miscarriages during Allison Kugel’s podcast, Allison Interviews. Matenopoulos, 47, television host, journalist, and lifestyle expert, “discussed how she struggled with her pregnancy while working on Home & Family, which occurred after she had her first child, Alexandra, who is now seven years old,” The Independent reported on February 17.

“I was fortunate enough to be able to have Alexandra,” she told Kugel. “And I have not talked about this before, but after Alexandra I had such a hard time staying pregnant. I had nine miscarriages.”

She then noted that “when she was pregnant at the time, not many people in her life knew about it,” The Independent reported.

“I was pregnant for, like, five years straight and no one knew except my stylist that I was pregnant,” Matenopoulos said in the podcast. “I would lose them, always.”

She continued: “The first three were really hard, and then after that it got to like, ‘Is this a joke?’ I just didn’t believe it, it didn’t matter. If I got pregnant, it doesn’t matter, it’s not going to hold.”

Of trying for another child, Matenopoulos said that “she’s still on the fence about it, as she was devastated after every miscarriage,” The Independent reported.

“My heart was broken so many times that I got to a point where I said, ‘Okay, this is what the universe and what God wants, and this is just how it is supposed to be.’ So I just stopped trying,” she told Kugel. “I stopped trying because I just felt so defeated.”

“When I look at little babies my ovaries hurt,” Matenopoulos said, The Independent reported. “I love the smell of them, I love everything about them. And I mean, I’d love to be able to give her [Alexandra] a sister. Even adoption, that’s not out of the question either.”

Matenopoulos “acknowledged that after going through this experience, she has a ‘pretty soft spot for anyone who has had a miscarriage,’” The Independent reported.

“Probably the worst one for me was when I was about four months pregnant at that point, and I had to host the Golden Globes red carpet for The Insider,” she told Kugel. ”I had the D&C [dilation and curettage procedure] on Saturday and then I had to host the Golden Globes on Sunday.”

“I really have a lot of empathy for people who are trying to have children and can’t,” Matenopoulos said, The Independent reported. “I thank my lucky stars every day. And instead of turning into ‘why me?’ I say ‘thank you God, thank you universe, for giving me Alexandra. The one healthy, beautiful child.”

Matenopoulos made her network television debut as one of the original co-hosts of The View at just 22 years old, when she was handpicked to join the panel by Barbara Walters who originated the show. Matenopoulos’ three-year stint on The View made her the youngest daytime television host in history. She went on to co-host The TV Guide’s flagship television show, the E! Network’s Daily 10 show, and eventually became a co-host of The Hallmark Channel’s long running morning show, Home & Family for nine years, before it was canceled in 2021.

Her bestselling cookbook, It’s All Greek to Me celebrates her family’s Greek heritage and favorite dishes, and her newly launched skincare line, Ikaria Beauty, also draws inspiration from Matenopoulos’ Greek heritage, with ingredients sourced directly from the Greek island of Ikaria.

More information is available online: www.ikariabeauty.com.

The full podcast may be viewed on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3I12JCZ.