Where was Nicolle Wallace? Here's what we know about the MSNBC anchor's return to TV

Nicolle Wallace is back.

The host of "Deadline: White House" on MSNBC returned to the show on Monday, Feb. 27. She had been on maternity leave.

“Well, hello there, everybody. It’s four o’clock in New York. I’ve missed saying that,” Wallace said at the start of the show. “It is so very, very, very good to be back with you. I have missed everyone.”

If you've watched Wallace much, it comes as no surprise that she immediately jumped back into the news, as if she'd never been gone at all.

"We begin today, though, with breaking news in what is now set to be the first-ever criminal trial of a former president of these United States."

Indeed, Wallace kicked off a new series on the show, "American Autocracy: It could happen HERE."

How long was Nicolle Wallace on maternity leave?

Wallace had been on maternity leave since November, when she and her husband welcomed a baby girl by surrogate. She called into "Deadline: White House" on Friday to speak to Alicia Menendez, who had been filling in for her, about her leave and return.

"I have loved sitting in on 'Deadline: White House' over these past few months and I cannot tell you how many times I've heard this question: 'When is Nicolle coming back?'" Menendez said. "It is a question I have had myself."

Menendez also joked about the interest in Wallace's absence.

"So now everyone on X, you can stop googling NBC's maternity-leave policy, as you sleuths have all been doing, to try to figure out the maximum amount of time. You know it's amazing how progressive people, Nicolle, can be around maternity leave until their favorite cable news host takes a little break to be with baby."

Wallace told Menendez that she gained perspective while she was out.

Wallace was an advisor to John McCain's 2008 campaign

"I think that when you're away you are filled up with the humility that we're so blessed to have viewers that come to us every day," Wallace said. "But there are so many people who aren't seeking out all the information, and who aren't voraciously consuming information about the threats to our democracy. ... What I realized in stepping away is that people that don't come to the table and people that don't take in this information aren't ambivalent about democracy. They just have other things competing for their attention."

Before Wallace joined MSNBC, she was a co-host of "The View." She was the White House communications director during George W. Bush's administration and a senior advisor to John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008.

How to watch 'Deadline: White House'

2 p.m. Arizona time weekdays on MSNBC.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Nicolle Wallace returns to MSNBC 'Deadline: White House'. Why she left