Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the highly opinionated host and television personality from ABC’s The View and Fox’s Fox and Friends, definitely made headlines during her time on both shows. With her views on politics, religion and marriage, she definitely made a lot of naysayers angry with her on-screen antics and deliberation-like statements, shrouding The View in controversy many times.

She most definitely has her supporters, especially among the republican community. She even received accolades and honours for her work and dedication to journalism and the interviewing process. But as can plainly be seen in these photos, her claim to fame doesn’t only come about because of her professional and strong journalistic qualities (though that alone should and could be enough to clinch it). How many of you dudes have watched The View with your wives, unable to stop staring at the beautiful woman on the far right side of the couch, or stumbled across the show on a boring weekday afternoon, suddenly finding yourself unable to flip channels because you caught a glimpse of Elisabeth?

Guilty as charged. The woman is gorgeous, not to mention extremely professional, classy, a career woman and a mom of three to boot—not to mention she has many business ventures. We’re sure her husband, Tim Hasselbeck, the retired football star, would most certainly agree. She has since retired from TV work and has concentrated her time on her family, as we’re sure her husband appreciates. But one look at these 15 photos of his wife would no doubted drive old Tim crazy.

15 The View

She spent a whopping 10 years as co-host on The View, and what a full and tumultuous ten years they turned out to be. After a lot of great guests and interviews, what she’s most remembered for are her full blown verbal altercations with both co-hosts and guests on the topics of religion, politics and other issues like birth control. Definitely opinionated, she often was made to defend herself, which she always did on many occasions. She was often eloquent, but emotional and her points were always driven home by the time the credits rolled. We all definitely don’t agree with what she always had to say, but we’re sure we can respect her drive and courage. In 2009, she and her co-hosts took home the Emmy for outstanding talk show host.

14 Could Have Done Even More With Her Fame

You had to have been living under a rock not to know who Elisabeth Hasselbeck was during her time on TV… which was from 2001 until her retirement in 2015. If it wasn’t for the news she was breaking, or the stories she was involved in, then you must have caught a glimpse of her at least once in 14 years.

She is most definitely a beautiful woman who exudes classiness and beauty and it has been stated many times that this woman could have most definitely done anything she put her mind to… maybe even starring in TV shows. She had the looks, the brains and the showmanship to probably do a lot more with her fame. As far as her acting ability, we’ll never know, but hey, she wouldn’t be the first TV actress who couldn’t act.

13 How It All Started

And to think … her career started with her inclusion on the iconic CBS reality show, Survivor. The show was indeed a cultural phenomenon and a definite pioneer at the start of the reality TV craze that hit TV screens at the end of the 90s and early on in the millennium. The show’s impact on TV is still felt today, and Hasselbeck’s inclusion on the show definitely had its effect. Audiences from all over tuned in to see what would happen next and cheer on the tough, cute blond as she tried to outsmart the other contestants. She was most definitely a scene stealer and had audiences, dudes primarily, talking up a storm at the water cooler the next day. She ended up placing 4th on the show, but regardless, an impact was made and her career as a TV personality was successfully launched.

12 Great Looks Definitely Help

Hey… we’re surely not the first to say it, and we won’t be the last, but succeeding in the limelight solely on your talent doesn’t always work for everybody. It’s no doubt that great looks speak volumes in that department, as the careers of many stars and personalities have shown. It’s been that way since the dawn of time.

Can anyone say Marilyn Monroe? Exactly. Now, we’re not comparing the TV host to such an icon, but the woman can definitely be considered “nice to look at.” A characteristic we’re sure TV producers had in mind when she auditioned for The View back in 2003, replacing Lisa Ling, and when she was hired to join the panel on Fox and Friends. Heck, many people tuned in to both shows and we’re sure a poll would show she was one of the main reasons for it. It helps that she is also a fantastic reporter and always manages to engage the audience with her strong opinions.

11 More Than A Beautiful Face

Now we don’t want to make this all about her obvious beauty—as we’re most definitely sure she wouldn’t appreciate that and she’d be right. She’s much more than her great looks and these items definitely need to be brought up.

She was an excellent student and attended Boston College, where she was captain of the softball team and she graduated with a BFA in Industrial Design. Also what must be noted was her penchant for details as she worked on The View, and as has been reported from many sources, that she would go over countless amounts of material, both reading and watching hours of footage before she had a guest on, as any journalist should do. She’s definitely the personification of female empowerment if ever there was one.

10 Fit And Trim To Boot

Keeping a schedule like she did for fourteen years was definitely an undertaking. She must have been running on all cylinders for most of the day, especially when we think about all she had on her plate. With her TV show, other appearances, research, other business ventures and her family to think about, that’s definitely lot to get done in a span of a 24 hour day.

Now imagine adding a healthy lifestyle complete with a good diet and squeezing in quite a few workouts a week. Think it’s impossible? Not quite, as Hasselbeck was able to accomplish it all, and all without letting any of her other multitude of responsibilities fall to the wayside. A healthy lifestyle probably helped her even more, energizing her to get it all done.

9 She Had A Normal Day Job Before It All Began

Like most celebrities, it didn’t all happen overnight for her—mind you, we’re aware it sometimes does for some fortunate (or unfortunate stars, depending how you look at it)—and she too had a run of the mill job.

We’ve all heard the stories … so and so worked at McDonalds before making it big … Channing Tatum was a stripper … Sylvester Stallone worked a deli counter, and so on. Well, it was a little different for Hasselbeck. After graduating from Boston College with her Industrial Designing degree, she landed a job at Puma shoes where she worked with the design team. This must have been a great opportunity for her, as she’s noted for having a love affair with great shoes, as most women do.

8 Had Problems Of Her Own

For years, Hasselbeck has suffered from Celiac disease, a disorder that affects the small intestine and which is caused by a reaction to gluten-rich foods. Gluten being protein found in wheat and other grains. The only known antidote is a gluten-free diet that sufferers must try to stick too for the rest of their lives, as Hasselbeck most certainly does.

She has released books on the subject and is an active spokeswoman for the prevention of the disease and an ardent supporter of a gluten free diet. In 2011, she also launched the product line: NoGii … fit for adults and children alike. Dealing with the disease is difficult for true sufferers of the disease, like Hasselbeck herself, but since the gluten-free diet also garners weight loss, a lot of people have jumped onto the diet as a mode of slimming down considerably.

7 Great Wardrobe

Another pro when taking a look at Hasselbeck and her remarkable career could most definitely be her fashion sense, as it was great. Time and time again, she wore great outfits on The View, and the fit and color of them not only accentuated her great looks and trim physique, but brought out the features of her face in a spectacular fashion.

Some of the most memorable moments on the show can be called to mind by simply remembering what she was wearing at a given moment. And there sure were a lot of Hasselbeck moments to remember, trust us. Example: Rosie O’Donnell’s last day on the show (a most controversial moment in the show’s history occurred in that episode and you’ll read all about it later in this article), Elisabeth was wearing this great flowing dress … green, pink, blue and yellow. We know you remember it … don’t lie.

6 Hasselbeck Vs. O'Donnell

To say that actress and talk show host Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck got along well in their time together on The View and should definitely work together again in the near future would be the equivalent of saying that hot oil and water should definitely be combined and as often as possible.

Yikes! The latter notion is just as silly as the former… Trust us. The two made headlines back in 2007 as they basically went to war in front of an audience, debating the Iraq war—definitely a touchy subject and one we won’t get into here, but sparks definitely flew as the two opinionated personalities went back and forth and quite aggressively. It stands as one of the shows biggest arguments and still gets a lot of play on YouTube.

5 Mother Of 3 And Doting Wife

In 2002, Elisabeth married her college sweetheart, Tim Hasselbeck and the two have been together since. Currently, Tim works as an analyst for ESPN, but he spent years on the gridiron as a quarterback and played for such teams as: the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills, completing a seven year career with the NFL in 2007 with the Arizona Cardinals.

The couple have three children: a daughter, Grace Elizabeth, born in 2005, a son, Taylor Thomas (2007) and finally another son, Isaiah Timothy (2009). She claims that the sole reason she retired so early was so that she could spend more time at home with her children and husband and that is indeed commendable.

4 Going Out On Top

Fox and Friends is your typical morning talk show and news program, very much a la Good Morning America, and is a leader in the market. It was in September of 2013 that Hasselbeck left her spot on the view to take a job as co-host on the Fox network and kept the job until 2015 when she took her early retirement.

She was doing very well on that show and viewer ratings increased considerably with her on the show. She definitely went out on top in terms of success and many believe she left too soon, as others feel going out on top is always better than waiting until you’re forced out, which definitely wasn’t the case.

3 Cultural TV Icon

It’s probably not mentioned enough, but there are indeed a lot of people out there who absolutely love, love, love to know everything there is to know about the celebs they see every day on TV. In the case of daytime TV, this is even more the case, as viewers tend to relate to daytime personalities and characters as they are seen every day, Monday to Friday, resulting in a bond with the audience that a film star is unlikely to attain.

Hasselbeck has most definitely attained such a status and unquestionably so. Her persona was such an integral part of the show and for 10 years; she most definitely developed a serious following, and still today has legions of fans that would go to bat for her at any moment, and that’s saying something, considering the woman is retired!

2 She Was A Teacher

Another piece of trivia related to Hasselbeck you may not have known is that she at one time actually taught abroad. It’s true. Shortly after she received her degree from Boston College and before she went on to design shoes for Puma, she taught in Belize, the Central American nation. Teaching, in and of itself is commendable work and at times can be quite difficult.

That’s pretty interesting and only adds to her appeal and multilayered history. Again, the experience, like most of her other work off the camera, gives her a sense of reality—something that Hollywood celebs often don’t call to mind—and reminds us that celebs like the rest of the world, had to make their way in some fashion before hitting it big. And besides, she must have been a hit with her male students.

1 What Now?

So… where to now? After all is said and done and all the smoke clears, what’s left to say? Well, in this society, not much. Unfortunately people sure have a short term memory these days, especially when it comes to the people that grace our TV screens for a short period of time … primarily in the TV journalism and reality TV milieu. Gone are the days of Walter Cronkite and the late, iconic Peter Jennings. But whether you loved her or you hated her, Elizabeth Hasselbeck definitely left her mark and should be remembered for years to come.

What next? Who’s to say … as we’re sure that she isn’t done yet and a return to TV isn’t out of the question as many in the industry have stated. But whatever her future endeavors, we wish her luck.