Whoopi Goldberg tests positive for COVID, missing “The View” season premiere

“The View” lead host and actress Whoopi Goldberg missed Tuesday’s premiere after testing positive for COVID, co-host Joy Behar addressed at the beginning of the episode Tuesday.

Behar thanked the audience for showing up to their 27th season premiere and noted Goldberg’s missing presence.

“As you can see, Whoopi is not here, she has COVID. 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,” Behar said. “But, sorry she’s not here, for those of you that were looking forward to seeing her.”

This would be the third time Goldberg contracted the virus. The 67-year-old missed several episodes of “The View” due to COVID in November 2022. Also before that, she dealt with a COVID infection in January 2022, Entertainment Weekly reported.

While Goldberg might be out, but the new season welcomed back other hosts such as Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin.