Sunny Hostin, Co-Host Of ‘The View,’ Reflects On Humble Beginnings And The Power Of Confidence Over Arrogance

Sunny Hostin, lawyer, journalist, and co-host of “The View,” said she went through tough times growing up in the Bronx, N.Y., sometimes living without heat and hot water. She said, the experience made her confident and not arrogant.

According to Hostin, she was raised in poverty and saw her mom suffer from it. Her mother’s suffering gave her the motivation to want to get out of living that way, she said in an interview with celebrity vlogger Paolo Presta, The Daily Mail reported.

“It wouldn’t be the cycle for my children, no way. And I was gonna get my mom out of there too. My mom was suffering… my dad was strong, but my mom was suffering. We were all gonna get out of that situation,” she recalled.

Now, Hostin’s mother, Rosa, lives with her in Purchase, N.Y.

Hostin said that some people mistake her confidence for conceit, but she made a point to say that she isn’t arrogant. In fact, she admitted that she still has insecurities from being told that she wasn’t good enough to have her own show by a CNN producer, the outlet reported.

The 54-year-old said in the revealing interview, “I was not only told that I would never be able to anchor my own show, I was used to audition other people for the show I wanted to anchor.”

Hostin, who became a permanent co-host on “The View” in 2016, said auditioning others for the position she wanted also took a toll on her confidence, but she told Presta that she endured it so that she could take care of her family.

“And I did it for the money. I’ve got two kids in school, I’ve got a husband, who while he’s a surgeon, loves to do a lot of charity work, which is a great thing… and I just continued to do it, and every time I did it, it would chip away at my confidence,” Hostin said.

She added that she is confident in her faith, family, and the law.

“I’m only confident when I’m talking about the law, or the love that I have for my children and my husband, I’m confident there… always,” she said.