A furious Barbara Walters said yesterday she was blindsided and “betrayed” by Star Jones Reynolds when the formerly corpulent commentator quit “The View” in the middle of a live telecast, and later said she’d been fired.

“I love Star and I was trying to do everything I possibly could – up until this morning, when I was betrayed – to protect her,” Walters said.

Jones didn’t mention getting axed when she said goodbye on air – but soon afterward, told People magazine her contract had not been renewed for a 10th season on the daily talk show.

“I feel like I was fired,” she told the magazine, which posted her interview on the Internet while she was still appearing live on “The View.”

Walters was not aware of the posting until after the telecast ended.

“I would have loved for Star to have left and not said, ‘I was fired,’ and not make it look like the program was somehow being cruel to her,” Walters said.

ABC officials did not return repeated calls and it was not known last night if Jones will be seen on “The View” today – or again.

On the air, Jones said, “After much prayer and counsel, I feel like this is the right time to tell you that the show is moving in another direction for its 10th season and I will not be returning as co-host next year.”

Walters said ABC brass decided last fall not to renew Jones’ contract. “We tried to talk them out of it and we tried to give Star time to redeem herself in the eyes of the audience,” she said.

A show source said Jones made her surprise announcement so her fans would turn against the show.

“She took back some control and it doesn’t look good for the show,” the source said.

“She does have fans and they won’t like that she was forced out for Rosie [O’Donnell],” the source said.

Jones and O’Donnell have been feuding for months, ever since O’Donnell blasted Jones for not admitting how she lost 150 pounds so quickly.

Although Jones has never admitted to it, it is believed she underwent gastric-bypass surgery two years ago.

The show has announced that O’Donnell will be joining the show to replace Meredith Vieira.

A show insider was not surprised about Jones’ departure, saying she’d made enemies by seeking expensive gifts, such as a diamond-studded pair of boots – and a free wedding.

“She was always very self-absorbed and was always putting the show and the company [ABC] in a very funny position,” the insider said. “She would compromise everything by demanding and getting free stuff – breaching all sorts of [ABC owner] Disney policies.”

In one instance, the source said, the show’s co-hosts were told to attend a meeting where they were asked by producers to stop accepting expensive gifts.

A few weeks later, after appearing on an episode that originated from Dallas, Jones went home with a pair of diamond-studded cowboy boots that had been featured in a fashion segment, according to the source.

Walters also was reported to be furious with Jones’ bizarre “bridezilla” behavior before her 2004 wedding, when she demanded free goodies from wedding suppliers in exchange for mentioning their names in magazine articles and on TV.

Jones said through a spokesman that she never accepted any diamond-studded boots and never violated ABC’s gifts policy.

Additional reporting by Braden Keil