Jenny McCarthy will become 'View' co-host

Jenny McCarthy will officially be joining "The View," co-host Barbara Walters confirmed Monday on the ABC talk show, The Los Angeles Times reports.

"We love her because she's fun and uninhibited and opinionated enough to help us begin the latest chapter in 'The View' history," Walters said of McCarthy, who has made 17 appearances on the show, including eight as guest co-host.

The former Playboy model, who rose to fame on a '90s dating show, "Singled Out," will join the show in September, when its new season officially kicks off. She will be replacing Joy Behar, the longtime co-host who bids farewell next month. "The View" has yet to name a replacement for Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who abruptly left last week for Fox News.

Though she launched her own little-watched talk show on VH1 earlier this year, McCarthy has remained in the spotlight in recent years mostly due to her support for the discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.