Kat Dennings tells Whoopi Goldberg she lived by her ‘I don’t want somebody in my house’ quote before marriage

Just like Whoopi Goldberg, actress Kat Dennings, even amid her marriage to musician Andrew W.K., does not want somebody in her house.

The upcoming Shifting Gears star joined The View Tuesday morning to discuss her life and career. During a question from cohost Sara Haines about her decision to get married in 2023, Dennings admitted that her philosophy on relationships stems from a legendary 2016 quote from Goldberg.

“It’s the worst. It’s the worst, isn’t it? It’s terrible,” the performer said of navigating pre-married life. “I was in a few long relationships and I tried to date a little bit, it was just a nightmare. I actually live by a quote from you, Whoopi. Correct me if this is the wrong quote, but I did look it up to make sure: I don’t want somebody in my house.”
Dennings added that the quote initially guided her perspective on relationships, but her marriage to W.K. has since changed her mind.

Those [were] my feelings towards marriage in general, until I met my husband,” Dennings said. “And now I like him in my house. I want him in my house!”

Earlier during the discussion, panelist Joy Behar offered Dennings some bedroom advice by suggesting that she listen to audio books “during sex,” after the actress revealed she read over 30 books in 2024. Goldberg then told her she should listen to more audio recordings to cram even more material into 2025.

Kat Dennings is reminiscing about her time as a “Hot Child in the City” — and the perks that came with it.

The 2 Broke Girls star joined the hosts of The View on Tuesday, Jan. 7, to talk about her new ABC sitcom Shifting Gears. Toward the end of their conversation, Alyssa Farah reminded Dennings, her co-host, the studio audience and viewers at home that one of the actress’ earliest roles was in on Sex and the City.

Back in 2000, when Dennings was just 14 years old, she guest starred in a single episode of the hit HBO show’s third season. “Hot Child in the City,” which took its title from the 1978 Nick Gilder song featured prominently in the episode, saw Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and co. confronting their inner children in various ways. For Samantha (Kim Cattrall), that came in the form of handling Jenny Brier (Dennings), a wealthy 13-year-old who hires the PR exec to oversee her star-studded bat mitzvah.

It was very interesting because, of course, I wasn’t allowed to watch Sex and the City as a child,” Dennings, now 38, told the View hosts. “And we didn’t have cable even, our family, so, I really had no idea what the show was.”

“I auditioned for it. I was like, ‘What a weird show. What a weird title,’ ” she recalled. “And then on the way home, on the train, we saw a building — like, a Sex and the City billboard across the whole building.”

The show was such a massive hit back in the early 2000s that even Dennings’ guest appearance garnered the young actress a certain level of notoriety, long before she rose to fame in films like Charlie Bartlett (2007), The House Bunny (2008) and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008).