Meghan McCain said she 'threw up' after a combative segment with Joy Behar on 'The View': 'She might have hated me'

• Meghan McCain opened up about an infamous moment between her and Joy Behar on "The View."
• The conservative "threw up" after Behar said she didn't miss McCain after she returned from maternity leave.

Former "The View" co-host Meghan McCain is opening up about the tense work environment she experienced while working at the hit daytime talk show before leaving last summer for feeling "disliked" and "ostracized."

During one infamous back-and-forth on Jan. 5 between McCain and cohost Joy Behar, McCain interrupted Behar while talking disparagingly about the Republican party.

"You missed me so much, Joy," McCain, the lone Republican on the panel, said at one point. "You missed me so much when I was on maternity leave ... You missed fighting with me."

Behar, a Democrat, replied: "I did not. I did not miss you. Zero."

In a new interview with Variety, McCain revealed new details about that experience, which was filmed remotely at various locations during the COVID-19 pandemic, that the public didn't get to see - including that she had a physical reaction to what happened live on-air.

"After the show, I went back to my office and I had a panic attack. I couldn't stop crying, and I'm not always crying," McCain told her friend Ramin Setoodeh. "I couldn't compose myself. I threw up in the garbage can. I was so overcome."

After her back and forth with Behar, the daughter of the late Senator John McCain said "that was the day" she decided to leave the ABC series after four years as the lone conservative voice at the table alongside Behar, moderator Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, and Sunny Hostin.

When pressed to speculate on why Behar reacted the way she did, McCain said, "I don't know. She might have hated me."

In a statement, a spokesperson for "The View" told Insider: "For 25 years, The View has been a platform on air and behind the scenes for strong women. Live television and different perspectives can often lead to surprising moments, but the team is collaborative and supportive - focused on delivering an informative daily talk show to our loyal viewers."

McCain, who joined the hit ABC daytime show in October 2017 at the urging of her father, admitted that there wasn't always bad blood between her and Behar. She said the two once had a "great relationship" because they are both "strong" and "unemotional" and like to keep their private lives out of the public eye.

McCain said that their relationship may have begun turning sour quickly during COVID because "it's easier to solve problems in person."

The mother of one said she asked the executive producer of "The View" and Behar's personal producer for an apology but, "they said she wouldn't do it. I don't know if they asked her."

And despite the drama, McCain was having other issues while returning to set. She also revealed to Variety that she "had postpartum anxiety" and was "really nervous" to be back at work and "starting TV all over again."