Who

Jones is the loudmouthed former co-host of The View, archenemy of Barbara Walters, and former wife of the exceedingly masculine Mr. Al Reynolds.

Backstory

A North Carolina native, Starlet Marie Jones popped up on the pop culture radar as a prosecutor/talking head on CourtTV during the OJ Simpson trial in 1991. Jones was soon commenting on everything, whether it was court-related or not, and in 1997 got picked by Barbara Walters to be a member of the original cast of The View. She stayed on the show for nine years before being spectacularly canned and replaced by muckraking lesbo Rosie O'Donnell. If the producers of The View thought they were adding a cast member who'd fit in better than Jones, they were hilariously mistaken.

Of note

Although she was on The View for nine seasons, the feuds over her wedding freebies (which she earned from name-dropping vendors on the show) and questions about her mystery weight loss led to Jones' contract not being renewed in 2006. Not one to leave quietly, she announced her departure on air without telling producers or her co-hosts beforehand; by the next day, Jones' photo was missing from the show's opening credits, and Barbara Walters was announcing through gritted teeth that Jones had been fired. In 2007, Jones was tapped to host an eponymous TruTV show. She spent several months delivering heavy-hitting interviews with A-list celebrities (former child star Dustin "Screech" Diamond, disgraced actor Isaiah Washington) before the show was cancelled in early 2008.

The look

The formerly rotund Jones very abruptly lost close to 150 pounds in 2003 thanks to gastric bypass surgery, which she initially denied she'd had. Her physique took another blow in 2006, when she got breast implants and bled so profusely during surgery that she required a blood transfusion. It was a bad day for her whole family—hours later, ex-hubby Al Reynolds slipped while working out at the gym, and required stitches for a gash in his head.

In print

In 2006 Jones penned Shine: A Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Journey to Finding Love, a book about her weight loss crusade, her miscellaneous emotional issues, and her tips for landing a man. As a promotional gambit for the book, she appeared in videos on AOL.com as a relationship "Coach"—if your gag reflex is weak, do not watch the one in which Jones discusses a couple's journey "from 'Hello' to afterglow."

Personal

Jones married mustachioed ex-banker Al Reynolds in 2004. (His sexuality was a constant source of speculation during the relationship; that he seemed to spend more of his time hanging out at gay bars than with his wife might have had something to do with that.) The couple announced they had divorced in March 2008. Jones live in a triplex penthouse with a gold-tiled master bathroom on East 90th Street. She also has homes in East Hampton and Miami.

No joke

Jones has her own eponymous line of wigs which sell online for the low, low price of $39.20.