‘The View’ Host Rosie O’Donnell Talks About Her Emotional Struggle After Losing 50 Pounds

Rosie O'Donnell is back and better than ever as a new host on ABC's The View. She looks better, having lost more than 50 pounds since her heart attack in 2012, but the weight loss process wasn't easy.

"I feel good. I wouldn't have said yes to coming back if I didn't," she told ABC News after The View's season premiere. "They asked me a year ago, 'Would you consider [coming back]?' ... The concept of being able to do this show in a way that celebrates and elevates women is hard for me to resist."

Even though the 52-year-old actress feels positive about her return to the talk show, she revealed that she had a really tough time emotionally after her significant weight loss.

"The fact that I look so different has been difficult and unexpected," Rosie said. "Everyone assumes that obese people would just be jumping for joy that they were healthier and thinner and able to fit into store-bought sizes, we don't have to go to the plus store. But it's also filled with a lot of emotional turbulence, you wouldn't expect."

Rosie underwent vertical gastric sleeve, which gives her the ability to eat what she wants without gaining weight, but it took her a near death experience in 2012 to decide to get help.

"So, since then, I can't ignore it anymore. It's not like I don't want the cupcake that I saw, I just know that that's not a good choice," she revealed.

The Fosters actress got married for the second time to Michelle Rounds in 2012 and with her new wife's support, Rosie has stayed strong with the weight loss program.

"I have a group that I go to, where women talk about how they feel. A lot of marriages break up once one person gets healthy. Luckily, my wife is very healthy, always been healthy, loves me and encourages me to be healthy," Rosie revealed.

The happy couple adopted a baby girl named Dakota, which adds to Rosie's children from her first marriage to Kelli Carpenter, who she divorced in 2007.

The talk show host, who cohosts with Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez and Nicolle Wallace, is in a really good place now she said after her first show.

"So, I'm happy, I'm in a good place," Rosie told ABC News.