Rosie O'Donnell Confessed Her Secret 'Crush' on 'The View' Co-Host, Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Rosie O'Donnell revealed that she had “a little bit of a crush” on Elisabeth Hasselbeck while they were hired as a host on "The View."

In Ramin Setoodeh’s upcoming book, "Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View," O’Donnell, 57, is opening up about her time with Hasselbeck, 41, on the ABC daytime program. She additionally discussed the secret "crush" that she had on her former co-host.

Speaking about their time together on the hit show, O'Donnell revealed that she gave Hasselbeck a piece of advice about debating on television.

“There was a little bit of a crush,” the television personality said in a Variety exclusive excerpt. “But not that I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to support, raise, elevate her, like she was the freshman star shortstop and I was the captain of the team.”

O'Donnell, who first joined "The View" in 2006, then clarified that even though she was attracted to Hasselbeck at the time, she would not like to act on her emotions since she supposes "there were underlying lesbian undertones on both parts."

Speaking about their time together on the hit show, O'Donnell revealed that she gave Hasselbeck a piece of advice about debating on television.

“Here’s what I said, ‘I’m the senior. She’s the freshman. I’ve got a really good player on the freshman team, but I have to teach her how to loosen up,’” she explained.

All through their time together on the program, the two openly disagreed. However, it was their on-air dispute regarding the Bush administration's policies with the Iraq War that made O’Donnell unexpectedly left "The View" in May 2007.

“It felt like a lover breaking up,” O’Donnell said about her last day on the show with Hasselbeck. She added:

“The fight that we had, to me as a gay woman, it felt like this: ‘You don’t love me as much as I love you.’ ‘I’ve taken care of you.’ ‘You have not.’ ‘How could you do that to me?’ ‘I didn’t do anything to you.’”

In the upcoming book, O’Donnell, who recently claimed that President Trump would be arrested before 2020, is also opening up about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her late father, Edward Joseph, who passed away in 2015.

"Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View" will be available in bookstores on April 2.