She’s been a mainstay on The View for more than two decades, but with back-to-back absences from the talk show, viewers are understandably concerned about where Whoopi Goldberg is and when she’s coming back.

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What happened to Whoopi Goldberg on The View?

Goldberg was missing from the February 19 and 20 episodes of The View. “Unfortunately, I know you’ll be unhappy, Whoopi is not here with us,” her co-host, Joy Behar, announced at the start of the episode on February 19, without giving any details as to where Goldberg was. It wasn’t until the next day on February 20 that Behar — who took over as The View‘s moderator in Goldberg’s absence — explained the real reason her co-host wasn’t on air. “Whoopi is still out with the flu. It’s going around, be careful. We hope you’re feeling better, Whoopi. Come back soon,” she said.

Whoopi Goldberg, The View

Goldberg, who joined The View in 2007, is one of six current co-hosts on The View, alongside Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro. In a 2024 episode of The View, Goldberg admitted that, if it wasn’t for the money, she would have left The View a long time ago. “I appreciate that people are having a hard time. Me, too. I work for a living. If I had all the money in the world, I would not be here, OK? So, I’m a working person, you know?” She continued, “My kid has to feed her family. My great-granddaughter has to be fed by her family. I know it’s hard out there.”

Goldberg’s recent flue isn’t the only time she has been off The View due to an illness. She previously missed multiple episodes in January 2022 after testing positive for COVID-19 upon The View‘s return from its holiday hiatus. She also missed The View‘s Season 27 premiere in September 2023 after she contracted COVID-19 another time.

“As you can see, Whoopi is not here. She has COVID,” Behar said at the time. “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.”

Unrelated to her health, Goldberg also took a personal leave from The View in 2023 to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican. Goldberg — who starred as Sister Mary Clarence / Deloris Wilson-Van Cartier in Sister Act and Sister Act 2 —  later joked on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she offered the Pope a role in Sister Act 3. “I went to see him and he actually seems to be a bit of a fan,” she said. “Sister Act, hello?!”