Whoopi Goldberg Returns to ‘The View’ — and Struggles With the Set’s New Chairs

By Greta Bjornson @greatbjornson
Published Sep. 11, 2023, 12:28 p.m. ET

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The View Season 27 is officially in full swing now that Whoopi Goldberg is back. The longtime moderator returned to the talk show for the first time this season on Monday. Her return comes after she missed last week’s shows after contracting COVID-19 yet again.

Goldberg made her triumphant return to the Hot Topics table, where she was joined by Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin. As she sat down in her seat, she was greeted by the studio audience with a lengthy round of applause, and she assured them, “I missed you too.”

Navarro told her co-host, “You should have come out to that Elton John song — the EGOT’s back,” cheekily subbing in Goldberg’s starry title for the title of John’s 1974 song “The Bitch Is Back.”

Goldberg, meanwhile, was bouncing up and down in her seat, seemingly testing out the new set given to The View for its new season. “This chair,” she said with a laugh, while Griffin agreed, “It’s hard to get used to.”

Gesturing to her behind, Goldberg told the panel, “I have a little more…” with a grimace, then continued, “space than I need.

“‘Cause my butt is like,” she explained, making a suction noise with her mouth then joking that sitting in the chair “should feel better than it does.”

Whatever issues she had with the chairs, The View‘s spiffy new Hot Topics table passed Goldberg’s test, as she exclaimed, “In any case, this is a very nice table!”

She loved it so much she almost let a swear slip, nearly describing the wood finish as “some nice s—,” but caught herself. As Goldberg explained, “I almost said it. I forgot where I was. I almost said the S word.”

Goldberg’s IRL return comes after she made a video appearance on The View last week to share a COVID-19 update with viewers. While masked up in her bedroom at home, she told the audience, “Hey, in spite of everything you’ve heard … I am not at Burning Man, I am not still in Italy, I am not, you know, doing stuff, I’m not trying to change the outcome of the election. I just, I have Covid.”

She continued, “I’m still testing positive, apparently. I have to have a clear test before I can come back, so it might be a couple of days,” then shared, “I’m sort of confined to my room. I’ve never been sent to my room like this at this age. But I’ve been confined to my room, but I just wanted to say hi and let everybody know that I’ll be there as soon as I can, and I’m sending you all great love and can’t wait to get back to our favorite place, The View.”

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.