Deborah Norville is opening up about Eva Pilgrim replacing her on Inside Edition.
Norville, 67, revealed her thoughts on the matter while chatting exclusively with Parade ahead of her return to TV in the new game show The Perfect Line, which premiered on Sept. 8.
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“We’ve emailed. We haven’t chatted face-to-face or ear-to-ear, but when I heard that she was getting the job before it was announced, I shot her an email and congratulated her and welcomed her,” she says. “I told her how lucky she was to get to work with the amazing people that she was going to soon be able to call her colleagues.”
Norville exited Inside Edition in May after serving as anchor for more than 30 years. Pilgrim, 43, took over as host in August.
As for her new game show — which challenges contestants to put events, items or pop culture moments in the correct order for a chance to win over $15,000 — Norville tells Parade that she “knew” the move into the game space was “right for me.”
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and you know if it’s right. You know if it fits. And I’m a big believer in trusting your gut,” she says. “Back when I wrote my first book, Chapter 7 was called ‘The Experts Aren’t,’ and the little subtitle was, ‘Trust your gut.’ And, I think if you trust your gut, and you’re well-educated and your head and heart are in the right place, your gut will serve you well. And my gut just told me this was going to be a good thing for me.”
Related: Inside Eva Pilgrim’s Quiet Life