‘The View’ is losing its Star player

The gloves are off for the women on “The View.”

Creator Barbara Walters said she was “betrayed” by Star Jones Reynolds’ surprise on-air announcement of her exit from the daytime talk show Tuesday. Reynolds said in a magazine interview that she felt she was fired.

Reynolds’ exit had been rumored since April, when it was announced that Rosie O’Donnell was replacing Meredith Vieira as a cast member. Still, Walters said she was taken by surprise when Reynolds announced her departure after the first commercial break.

“I love Star and I was trying to do everything I possibly could -- up until this morning when I was betrayed -- to protect her,” Walters said.

She said ABC network chiefs had decided last fall not to renew Reynolds’ contract because its research showed that Reynolds’ dramatic weight loss and 2004 wedding to banker Al Reynolds had turned viewers off. Walters said Reynolds had known for several months that she would not be coming back, before Vieira’s announcement.

Reynolds told the audience, “I’m not sure what the future holds. But I’m absolutely sure who holds the future.”