Vanessa Williams is coming back to television.
BuzzFeed News can reveal that the three-time Emmy nominee will play the lead role of Maxine Robinson in Satan’s Sisters on VH1.
The show revolves around The Lunch Hour, a fictional daytime talk show that bears more than a passing resemblance to ABC’s The View, which is no coincidence: The series is based on the 2011 book of the same name by Star Jones, who famously co-hosted The View for nine seasons.
Williams will play Robinson who (at least in the book) is revered as queen of The Lunch Hour, until it's revealed that an insider plans to reveal all the show’s dirty secrets.
"I'm such a fan of the talented team of Star Jones and Suzanne De Passe, who are giving us a look at behind-the-scenes drama of America's favorite daytime talkshow," Williams exclusively told BuzzFeed News in a statement. "I can't wait to jump into this fictional world of secrets, lies, and ambition and rule the roost. Bring it on ladies!"
In an earlier statement released when VH1 greenlit Satan’s Sisters in February, Star Jones said, “I would be lying if I said that Satan's Sisters wasn’t influenced by the soap opera life of daytime TV but it is a work of fiction. All the characters are inspired, in parts, by someone I’ve worked with, worked for, interviewed, was interviewed by and/or even prosecuted.”
According to a press release from VH1, Satan’s Sisters “will focus on the five female co-hosts of a popular daily TV talk show and the fireworks that ensue each weekday when they discuss life, love, family, politics, and gossip.
"These five women, with very different points of view, are best friends and sisters while they're on TV. But behind the scenes, they are Satan's Sisters — a backstage world filled with power struggles, personal demons, diva fits, love affairs, man troubles, cat fights and cocktails.”