Jerry O'Connell was concerned about becoming The Talk co-host

Jerry O’Connell was “a little” concerned about joining ‘The Talk’ after Sharon Osbourne’s controversial departure.

The 47-year-old star joined the CBS show as a permanent co-host in July but admits that he was wary about taking on the role following Sharon’s departure earlier this year, which came after she defended friend Piers Morgan over comments he made about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and was involved in an on-air argument with colleague Sheryl Underwood over the matter.

Asked by Bevy Smith on ‘Bevelations’ if he was worried about joining the programme, Jerry said: “Yeah, a little bit.

“It’s funny, I didn’t know the exact details of everything that happened. I remember reading that Sharon Osbourne was no longer on ‘The Talk’ and then I was literally on there.”

Jerry also likened joining ‘The Talk’ to being the “rebound guy” for his wife Rebecca Romijn, who he met shortly after she got divorced.

He said: “And I’ll tell you, being that rebound guy is fun. My wife would get depressed and I’d be like, ‘What are you depressed about? Like, let’s go have fun. Who cares?'”

Jerry continued: “Coming in here right after Sharon Osbourne left, I could tell there was trauma with this group, you know, they were shooketh.

“And I came in and I was like, ‘Hey guys, I don’t know anything about that. Like, let’s just have a good time.’ And anytime it was even brought up, I was like, ‘Hey guys, guys, guys, that wasn’t me, please. Can we not talk about that today?’

“I get to be like the hot new boyfriend.”