The Talk Co-Hosts Look Back on Their Favorite Memories as Series Comes to an End: 'It Really Was Just a Joy' (Exclusive)

Conversation has come to an end, but the co-hosts have memories that will last a lifetime.

As the set wound down and the cameras turned off for the final time on Friday, December 20, Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell and Sheryl Underwood they gathered in the green room to reflect on their time on the talk show with PEOPLE.

All teary-eyed, each co-host said the show had changed their lives for the better.

“I think it was a great mix of light and laughs and then a sentimental and emotional time,” Kloots, 42, says of the final episode.

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Throughout the episode, montages of the best moments from the show’s 15 years run, and Morales, 52, notes that it’s important to remember everyone who paved the way for the show’s success.

“What I loved was that they really honored the hosts that came before us,” she says. “I think it’s been an honor for each of us up until this week, but there have been so many great co-hosts before us, so it was great to see Julie [Chen Moonves]good to see Sharon [Osbourne]. It was nice to see everything from Carrie Ann [Inaba] Sarah Gilbert, everyone gets their time.”

From left, Sheryl Underwood, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Eve and Julie Chen.

Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty

Underwood, who was on Conversation from Season 2 (the longest of the current hosts), says watching all the clips brought back even more memories. Speaking about the time she took off her wig live on air – which was shown, not once but twice, during the finale – she recalls that she didn’t find it too funny at the time.

“What they didn’t show was the camera footage of me saying, ‘No, I’m not going to do that!'” she says. “Why? Because my crush Donny Osmond is sitting next to me. I’ve been in love with Donny Osmond ever since Tiger Beat magazine. And I’ll say, ‘I won’t do it,’ [and producers said]’Do it. Do it. Do it.’ I said, ‘No.’ But then I said, ‘You better do it for your work and comedy.’ So I took off my wig. But notice, it’s not braided, it’s just hair.”

“You screw up the ones you love,” Morales interjects, and Underwood, 61, agrees with a laugh.

“Once [Osbourne’s] the tooth fell out on camera,” Underwood continues, while Kloots adds, “I thought she put something black on it!”

“No! It was real,” reveals Underwood.

He then tells the co-hosts that Prince once sent flowers on the show to get Osbourne’s attention.

“Sharon explained something about the record business, and I had a person who knew Prince, so they called me on the phone, and then Prince was on my phone and talking,” Underwood says. “She wants to talk to Sharon, and I said, ‘This better be Prince when I give her the phone.’ And it was.”

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Gbajabiamila, who joined Conversation 2021 says stories like Underwood’s are what make the show so special.

“It’s so much fun coming here every day,” he explains. “I’ve always looked forward to the topics, what we’re going to talk about, when it’s going to happen, from the heavy ones to the light, fun ones.”

Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell and Sheryl Underwood.

CBS

“I always enjoy Jerry,” he adds. “I haven’t had a chance to say it outside, but you know, especially with the serious ones, Jerry’s funny about almost everything.”

“And it’s hard to do a live show every day,” says Kloots, who also became a co-host in 2021. “You come to work with everything that just happened at home that morning or that night, and it’s hard, but we’d always sit in those chairs , and it was just joy. It was actually just joy. It was so nice.”

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Morales, who was previously on Today show until switching to Conversation 2021, says that having a live audience has changed the way he does his job. “When you have that instant connection with [the audience] and people give you immediate feedback, it’s really energizing,” she says. “I never really felt it.”

Morales and Gbajabiamila, 45, reveal they’ve even befriended some consistent audience members over the years.

“I went and had a drink with some of them yesterday!” Morales says, and Kloots adds, “You forget that the audience grew with us, you know. They invest in us and all our families.”

O’Connell, 50, says bringing his family to filming over the years reminds him of how big a role the show has played in his life.

“It’s so funny to see when they showed a clip of my kids the first season I was here,” he says. “It was so long ago, they were just kids.”

(L-R): Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Sheryl Underwood, Jerry O’Connell and Natalie Morales.

Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty

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And while there are many parts Conversation What the co-hosts will miss are the little things that often mean the most, they say.

“Crystal of tricksters, she would always know what I wanted,” says Gbajabiamila. “I just thought of that little touch, just knowing what I didn’t eat, what I like, my preferences. She’d say, ‘Oh, I thought you’d like this,’ whenever they had something. I go, ‘Oh my God,’ it’s like, ‘You really know me.'”

“I’ve worked with a lot of teams, but this is the team I’ve been on since day one, and it’s a special place,” Morales said. “People really respect you. They respect what you bring every day. They know you’re here to make this place better, and I think everyone wants you to have a good time while doing it. So yes, it’s work, but at the end of the day, everyone here makes you feel like you’re part of the family.”

Kloots jokes: “And the clothes, hair and make-up, they look good every day!”

More than anything, the five agree that they will miss their relationship the most. “I’m going to miss my co-hosts. I’m going to miss seeing them every day,” says O’Connell.

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