Whoopi Goldberg, 67, MISSES season premiere of The View after testing positive for COVID for a THIRD time – but co-host Joy Behar insists she’s ‘on the mend’ and at ‘the tail end’ of her illness

Whoopi Goldberg was forced to miss The View season 27 premiere on Tuesday after being struck down by COVID for the third time.

As the ABC show returned to the air after a four-week summer hiatus, Joy Behar filled in as moderator while Whoopi, 67, was conspicuously absent as she tested positive for coronavirus.

Joy, 80, was joined by Ana Navarro, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin as she opened the show seated at a brand new and still glamorous desk.

“As you can see Whoopi’s not here, she’s got Covid,” Joy announced as the live studio audience reacted, leading her to add, “Yeah. It’s back, it’s back.

Joy continued, “But she’s on the mend, she’s at the end of it. Sorry for those who were looking forward to seeing it.

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Whoopi, 67, has kept a very low profile on social media during the four-week summer vacation and hasn’t posted on Instagram since July 27.

The Sister Act star was also noticeably absent from an event in late August to mark her latest professional venture.

On Monday, Aug. 28, Whoopi’s daughter, Alex Martin, and her kids — Amara Skye Dean, Mason Dean, and Jerzey Dean — attended the Bella Flora Celebrity Golf Tournament in Laguna Beach, Calif., but Whoopi was nowhere to be found.

Her family was on hand to support her cover of Cannabis Cactus magazine, with the magazine serving as media partner for the event.

It’s unclear if Whoopi was absent as she had already tested positive for COVID.

This isn’t the first time the actor has fallen ill with the coronavirus as she was forced to take time off the show in early 2022 after showing symptoms between Christmas 2021 and New Year’s Eve.

Whoopi said at the time that she started feeling unwell with mild symptoms after Christmas, so she took a test and then rang in the new year by resting in bed, listening to audiobooks and watching the ball falling.

This is the third time Whoopi has had to take time off from The View due to COVID.

“It was a shock, because I’m triple vaccinated, I haven’t been anywhere, I haven’t done anything,” she said in a statement.

“It’s one of those things where you think I did everything I was supposed to do… Yeah, that doesn’t stop Omicron.

“I don’t know what additional proof people need to see that vaccination – while it doesn’t necessarily prevent it from happening again, it doesn’t happen at the same rate as before,” she said. added.

Whoopi contracted COVID again in November 2022 and was again absent from work, so this is the third time she has been absent from the show due to the virus.

After returning to work in November 2022, she told the panel: “You can be boosted within inches of your life and then the next thing you know you have contracted Covid again. But I don’t have it now and that’s why I’m back at the table.

She continued: “I’ll tell you, we’re used to people saying, ‘Oh (Covid) isn’t that bad (now),’ but that was a tough question.”

Viewers who tuned in on Tuesday reacted to the news on Twitter, as one person posted, “Whoopi got COVID so many times. Goodness #TheView.’

Another joked, “Whoopi having Covid and missing the season 27 premiere seems like a #TheView hate crime to me.”

Upon returning to work after having COVID in 2022, Whoopi said it was ‘difficult’

A third fan admitted, “Wait a minute #Whoopi has #Covid and is not on #TheView. I really don’t like it when Whoopi isn’t around.

A fourth person added, “Whoopi not being here for the first episode of the season seems like a personal attack on me. #View.’