Whoopi Goldberg made her first appearance on season 27 of The View Monday morning, after missing last week’s premiere because she was battling COVID-19 for a third time.
Goldberg, 67, walked on stage to applause. As she took her seat at the table, the audience stood and cheered.
The View moderator smiled, waved, and said: “I missed you too.”
Once the cheering stopped, the EGOT winner joked that the new chairs on set were a little small for her frame, but said she loved the new table.
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She reflected on returning to work on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
“When you think about it, it’s been 22 years and we’re still losing first responders because they’ve been ill. This is something we’ll never forget,” she said about the coordinated terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that claimed nearly 3,000 lives in New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Goldberg missed the previous week of the ABC daytime talk show after testing positive for COVID.
On the Sept. 5 premiere, Joy Behar told viewers her co-host contracted the virus amid an uptick in cases across the U.S.
“As you can see, Whoopi is not here. She has COVID,” Behar said. “I know. It’s back, it’s back! But she’s on the mend. She’s on the tail end and she’ll probably be back this week.”
The next day Goldberg appeared in a video message saying she was on the mend.
Goldberg wore a mask, but briefly removed it to prove it was really her. She joked that she wasn’t away from work because she was trying to rig the upcoming presidential election or at the rain-soaked Burning Man festival in Nevada.
“I am not at Burning Man. I am not still in Italy. I am not doing stuff, I’m not trying to change the outcome of the election, I just have COVID,” she said while laughing.
“I’m still testing positive, apparently I have to have a clear test before I can come back so it might be a few days,” she explained. “But I’m really thrilled to see the beautiful new desk. I’m really thrilled to see all the beautiful women. You girls look great.” She previously had the virus in November 2022 and also earlier that year in January.
Watch the video below of Whoopi Goldberg returning to The View:
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