What's next for you after The Talk? I'm launching a clothing line later this year. I’m also working on developing a cable show.

Had you hoped for more air-time? I’d signed on to do "Mom in the Street" segments twice a week.  But as the show evolved, there really wasn't much room for my segments.

The Talk was your full-time job since your son, Zev, was born three years ago. How was the transition? I enjoyed having a place to go each day and a regular schedule. And I loved working with my five terrific co-hosts [Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini]. But my son was having separation anxiety, and it would break my heart.

Was it hard to leave for work? It was meltdown city every morning. Zev would cry, “Mommy, don’t go!” I’d cry. He would be a heaving puddle on the floor. I’d calm him down and say, “See you later. See you on TV.” There’s one episode we have on tape where I wore a purple dress. Zev would say, “Will you wear the purple dress?” Then my husband [writer Judah Miller] would play that taped episode where I wear the dress.

Would it be a struggle to get home to your son on time? Always. There would be a wardrobe fitting, a phone call. Zev has a Mommy-and-Me gym class I hate to miss. I would feel like I was missing our special time. But I’d never promise to be home at a specific time or make other promises I couldn’t keep. We have no family or relatives nearby to help, but we’ve had the same sitter since he was 3 weeks old.

You were diagnosed with cervical cancer during a routine exam nine years ago—when you were 28. It was the last thing I ever thought of at the time. I thought the worst-case scenario was that I’d need a hysterectomy—and then I got one. It took many years for the silver lining to show, but now I feel so blessed things went the way they did. The trick is to figure out how to get through tough stuff—whether you get fired, go through a breakup or suffer a health scare. You never know what’s around the corner, and there’s always something good to take away.

It must have been especially tough to get this news during early rehearsals for Hairspray. Is it true you didn’t tell the cast anything? I worried that if I told anyone, they’d recast me. Amazingly, the schedule worked out. I did a reading of the show, then I went back to L.A. for three months of treatment. I went to New York for another month of rehearsals, then back to L.A. for the final surgery where they removed my uterus and some lymph nodes. Fortunately I didn’t need chemo.

How did you decided to conceive Zev with a surrogate? It felt like what I needed to do. The surrogate carried my egg and my husband’s sperm. When I was first diagnosed with cancer, the doctor kept talking about surrogates. I didn’t know what he was talking about. I didn’t know what body parts were being removed. I was focused on one thing: Get the cancer out. I didn’t care what they had to do.

Do you and Judah have similar parenting styles? We’re complete opposites. He can spend the whole morning with Zev and not leave the house. I’m confused by what they do. The TV isn’t on. They sit quietly reading books. Zev doesn’t do that with me—we’re always on the move. I take him to the market, to the park. We don’t sit in the house chilling. I can’t just sit here.

Who’s the disciplinarian? Me, 100 percent. Judah will smile when he says no. Who’s going to listen to that?

How do you and Judah split child-care duties? He’s crazy hands-on as a dad. When I wasn’t working, Judah would get home at 5 p.m. and give Zev a bath and get him ready for bed. He still gives him a bath. He loves his special time with Zev and is great at calming him down for bed. I’m not the calming influence in the family.

What was Dancing with the Stars like for you? It got my name out there. People saw me perform and got to know who I was in the five- minute packages. It was my first time doing reality TV, and you can’t fake it. The surrogate was pregnant at that time, and I stayed on the show for three months. Our surrogate sat in the audience. Nobody knew. It was a crazy time. My son was born two months later.

How did you get into such great shape? I was really strong and healthy. But it was also stressful and so much work. You rehearse for many hours each day and get into great shape. Then you run the dances over and over in your head.

What’s something few people know about you? I did Hairspray again in 2008 for six weeks with Harvey Fierstein when Zev was 5 months old because I wanted my son to be a part of something that had been such a huge part of my life. I wanted a picture of him backstage at the Hairspray theater and in Times Square with the Hairspray billboard. It was the most important moment in my life, and I wanted to share it with my child. And a really nice wardrobe intern made my son a costume that matched Link Larkin’s costume [Hairspray’s teenage heartthrob character]. At the finale, they handed my son up to me onstage. We have that photo, too. I can tell him, “You were up there.”

You’ve had such a varied career. What’s been your favorite part so far? Performing Hairspray on Broadway is the highlight of my career. I loved being on Dancing with the Stars, but nothing will ever compare with being the leading lady in a Broadway show, and right after I’d battled cancer. It meant so much to me.