Whoopi Goldberg made a surprise appearance on “The View” Thursday after being absent from the show for the past month due to health reasons.
Goldberg has had pneumonia in both lungs and became “septic,” leading to a lot of fluid and “all kinds of stuff going on.” She’s been absent from “The View” since Feb. 5.
“This is my first foray out,” Goldberg said. “I’m not there yet, I know that. The only way it’s going to get better is if I began, so this is my beginning.” Goldberg added that she’ll start to return over the “next week and a half.”
You can watch a video of her return above.
Last week, Goldberg shared an update and revealed that though she’s “not dead,” she actually came close to dying. “I am OK. I’m not dead,” Goldberg said in a taped segment that rolled at the top of the March 8 episode. “Yes, I came very, very close to leaving the Earth. Good news, I didn’t. Thank you for all of your good wishes.”
Goldberg’s lengthy absence from the show coincided with the Oscars, and since there was no host, it led to some speculation that Goldberg might be a surprise Oscar host, as she’s hosted in the past. The Oscars did proceed however without a host — and without Whoopi, who was supposed to be a presenter.
“The View” airs at 11 a.m./10 a.m. central on ABC. Joy Behar has been handling Goldberg’s moderating duties since she fell ill.