'The View': Whoopi Goldberg Returns to Lengthy Standing Ovation Following Medical Emergency

Whoopi Goldberg is back. The longtime host on The View made a triumphant, surprise return to the [...]

By Libby Birk

Whoopi Goldberg is back. The longtime host on The View made a triumphant, surprise return to the talk show Thursday morning after a drawn-out, precarious battle with pneumonia.

The 63-year-old comedian surprised her co-hosts at the top of the show. In a video shared by The View's official Twitter account, Joy Behar was in the middle of explaining that Goldberg was feeling better and hoped to be back next week when the audience erupted into cheers and applause. Behar, along with the rest of her co-hosts, swiveled around in their chairs to see Goldberg entering the side of the stage.

All five women rushed out of their seats to envelop Goldberg in an enormous bear hug as audience members got to their feet for a lengthy standing ovation.

"WHOOPI IS HERE!!!!" The View tweeted, along with four red emojis.

Goldberg was missing from set since Feb. 6 — more than a month — revealing last week that her bout with pneumonia was so severe that she nearly died.

"Hey, yes, it's me. I am here. I am up and moving around — not as fast as I'd like to be," she began in a video shared by The View on Friday. "I am OK. I'm not dead."

"I had pneumonia and I was septic. Pneumonia in both lungs, which meant there was fluid there was all kinds of stuff going on," she continued. "And yes, I came very, very close to leaving the earth," she said. "Good news: I didn't."

The actress, who has been a panelist on the ABC talk show since 2007, thanked her fans and critics alike for their support and well wishes.

"Thank you for all of your good wishes, all of the wonderful things people have bee saying. Even people who are not huge fans of mine have actually been saying nice things bout me. We all know that's going to change when I get back, but for now it's brilliant," she joked.

"Ladies, I cannot wait to see y'all," she added, addressing her fellow panelists. "This has been interesting and I'll tell you about it when we're all at the table. To everybody, see you soon."

Behar previously told viewers about Goldberg's diagnosis during the Feb. 20 broadcast while simultaneously debunking rumors that Goldberg would be the surprise host of the Oscars, which were just a few days away at that point.

"She's not feeling well," Behar said at the time. "She's actually recovering from pneumonia. I saw her last night and she's very funny still, and we had big laughs. She's getting there, she's on the mend."

"There are all these conspiracy theories on the internet that she's not really sick and she's secretly preparing to host the Oscars," she continued. "She's not even well enough to host this show right now, let alone the Oscars."

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.

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