Fans of The View were shocked to see that Whoopi Goldberg was missing from the show’s season 27 premiere. Joy Behar shared details about her costar’s condition and expected return back to TV after contracting COVID-19.

Where Is Whoopi Goldberg on ‘The View’?

At the top of the hour on September 5, Joy addressed Whoopi’s absence after the series returned from its summer hiatus.

​​“As you can see, Whoopi is not here. She has COVID,” Joy explained. “Yes, 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. But sorry she’s not here, for those of you who were looking forward to seeing her.”

Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro joined Joy in welcoming viewers back for a new season of The View. The cohosts all did a great job in carrying the show amid Whoopi’s absence.

Whoopi did not immediately address her illness on her social media accounts. This wasn’t the first time the Sister Act actress was forced to miss the talk show due to COVID-19. She contracted the virus in January 2022 and again in November 2022.

“It was a shock because I’m triple vaxxed, I haven’t been anywhere, I haven’t done anything,” she said at the start of 2022 after falling ill. “It’s one of those things where you think, ‘I’ve done everything I was supposed to do.’ Yeah, it doesn’t stop omicron.”

Whoopi Goldberg poses with daughter Alex Martin at Oscars
 Whoopi Goldberg's Rare Family Photos With Daughter Alex and Grandkids 

Whoopi Goldberg Recently Hinted at a New Project in the Works

One week prior to her absence from the season premiere of The View, the EGOT winner was spotted out in Italy with film producer Roberto Cipullo.

“And then when you’re finishing dinner with a Hollywood legend, a world music giant arrives and the evening becomes surreal,” his caption on an August 29 Instagram photo with Whoopi said. “In Montecassiano, in the heart of Marche. Wonderful. And tomorrow it begins.”

Whoopi Goldberg sits in chair and hold microphone
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for FLC

Fans also captured videos of Whoopi as she walked along the streets in a purple outfit, but she did not reveal any details about what project she was working on at the time. For many years, Whoopi has been teasing Sister Act 3, the third installment of her widely successful film series. The movie currently has a projected August 2024 release date, per IMDb.

“The script came in yesterday,” Whoopi said during a November 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “I really like it, you know, but it has a whole lot of adults to go through. If they don’t get in its way, it could be pretty good.”