Despite earlier reports that Pat O’Brien would be leaving his post on The Insider, it seems the show’s producers are being forced to return to square one.

For some time, it appeared that Donny Osmond was being groomed to be Lara Spencer‘s new co-host.  Unfortunately, the performer decided he didn’t want to commit to anything more than just an interim position.  Realizing the entertainment program would not work with a solo anchor alone, the Insider‘s execs opted to give the recently rehabbed frontman one more try.

Come next Monday, we’ll get to see the refreshed Pat on air once again.  What we won’t see is him standing next to Spencer.  For the time being, O’Brien will do his share from Los Angeles while Lara continues her hosting duties from New York.  Apparently keeping him in California is the best thing for his sobriety.  (He really should be within driving distance of Promises.)

Here’s my suggestion: Instead of putting Entertainment Tonight and The Insider back-to-back, why don’t they just cancel the latter and extend the former?  Not only do they ‘borrow’ segments from each other, they repeat the same stories anyway!