Sharon Osbourne on Return to 'The Talk': 'I'd Rather Go to Afghanistan'

Sharon Osbourne wants one thing to be clear regarding her acrimonious departure from The Talk some 19 months ago—she has absolutely no desire to regain her seat at the table.

"Nothing would make me go back to The Talk, with their hypocrisy and their lies that go on at that company," she told Newsweek during an interview this week. "Nothing would make me go there. I'd rather go to Afghanistan on holiday."

The outspoken TV personality, who will turn 70 on Sunday, was permanently suspended from the CBS talk show after getting into a heated discussion about racism with fellow panellist Sheryl Underwood, 58.

At the time, Osbourne was defending her friend, Piers Morgan, who said in March 2021 that he didn't "believe a word" of Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

"I very much feel like I'm about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend, who many people think is a racist, so that makes me a racist?" Osbourne said at the time, before asking Underwood to "educate" her.

Osbourne parted ways with the network soon after and has since embarked on a new chapter, hosting a show on Rupert Murdoch's TalkTV, where she has joined Morgan, 57, as a star signing.

The Briton has also shot the recently released Fox Nation documentary series Sharon Osbourne: To Hell and Back, in which she thoroughly documents elements of her past, including the events that led to her unceremonious exit from The Talk.

"It was emotionally hard for me, because there was a lot more in it initially about my father," Osbourne told Newsweek of revisiting her past in the four-part series.

"And it got me very, very emotional—not talking about what happened to me at CBS. I'm not emotional over that anymore. That's gone. I worked that one out. You know, I feel that I've had a very blessed life."

Later on, though, Osbourne says that the outspoken nature that won her an audience of millions from the debut of her family reality show in the early 2000s, The Osbournes, is likely what helped land her a spot on The Talk.

"CBS knew what they were getting when they employed me," she said. "They [knew they hadn't] hired a dormouse."

Ahead of The Talk's season 13 premiere, Underwood told People that she missed Osbourne, who was a part of the show's fabric from its 2010 debut until her dismissal in 2021. Osbourne, however, is less than glowing in her reaction when asked for her thoughts on Underwood's statement.

"I don't see why I should reach out to her any more than I did," Osbourne told Newsweek. "I sent three text messages, because she doesn't pick up her phone. She never does. And I sent her three text messages that were absolutely blanked. And she said that I never texted her, which was a lie. I printed them all in the documentary."

"And you know what? I met Sheryl Underwood," Osbourne said, before trailing off. "I'm not going to say... I'm not going to give her the attention that she doesn't deserve. So, no, I'm not going there with her."

Does Osbourne miss their friendship at least? "It wasn't a friendship," she responded. It was a one-way friendship. It was only a friendship in my mind, obviously... She misses me like she would miss a tumor. Let's be honest."

Such are Osbourne's feelings about The Talk and all associated with it, she has refused to watch the show since her departure. "Nobody's allowed to watch CBS that knows me!" Osbourne laughed, in a tone that in a tone that showed she was very much serious in her statement. "They've been banned."

While Osbourne has moved on from the show and continued to work, it's clear from speaking with her that there's passion about getting her side of the story across, all while getting support from free-speech-no-matter-what proponents on the political right.

Though she's far from afraid to share her political views (she's not former President Donald Trump's biggest fan, but supports the idea of his Twitter ban being lifted), Osbourne says that her own leanings are "liberal"—with moderation.

"I'm a very liberal person, but not extreme liberalism. I don't agree with that either," Osbourne said. "Anything that is extreme, I try and stay away from."

Still, Osbourne, who is married to rocker Ozzy, 73, has learned that sharing one's opinion, no matter where it falls, will always come at the price of public judgment.

"You know what? What other people have to say, I don't care. I don't know them," she said, before returning her thoughts to The Talk. "But the thing is, I know what went down, CBS knows what went down, Sheryl Underwood knows what went down.

"I am probably the only one that can look at my face in the mirror every day and know that I did nothing wrong. The others have to live with that.

"But you know what? They look at me and they go, 'Who gives the s***? She's got money. She doesn't need the show. She's got that, she's got that.' And it's like, no, not f*** me. F*** you!"

Newsweek reached out to representatives of The Talk and Underwood for comment.

Sharon Osbourne: To Hell and Back is currently streaming on Fox Nation.