messaging in landscape iphone 12

Does anyone know how to get rid of the view of contacts when texting in landscape mode?

When in landscape the list of people I text appears in the top left, my keyboard is fully across the bottom, and the person I am actually texting is top right.

While convenient, I find myself hitting a random name and texting to someone else. If phone is vertical, the list of contacts is hidden (as normal).

I have gone through nearly all my settings and didn't see an option to hide or remove or even change the view.

TIA!