Whoopi Goldberg Makes ‘The View’ Return, Gives Big Update About Life During Hiatus

Amanda Bell December 1, 2025, 11:28 am

What To Know

Whoopi Goldberg returned to The View after a two-week hiatus.
She spent that time filming as a guest star on the Italian soap opera Un Posto Al Sole.
She detailed her experience being in Italy for the series, including the locals’ reactions to U.S. politics.

Whoopi Goldberg returned to her seat on The View after an extended absence on Monday (December 1) and shared what she’d been up to during her time away from the panel.

Goldberg had been absent from the talk show for two weeks, working instead in Naples, Italy, as a guest star on the Italian soap opera Un Posto Al Sole.

“I learned a lot because I’d never done a soap opera,” Goldberg said of the experience. “Doing a soap opera in a different language, in a different country, yeah [it] made for a really interesting time.”

She then noted that she had been sending behind-the-scenes videos of her time in Italy to her cohosts, joking, “I just wanted y’all to know I was actually working!”

Goldberg also revealed that her experience in the Boot was tainted a bit by the weather. “It rained every day,” she said. “Like rain, storm, thunder, it was crazy.” Still, the EGOT-er said she “had the best time” while working on that other daytime television series.

Cohost Ana Navarro then joked, ” Starring in a fake soap opera sounds so much better than living through the real one,” alluding to the political unrest underway in the United States. But Goldberg said she did not get away from that in Italy, exactly.

Instead, Goldberg said, “One doesn’t ever stop living in the real one. Yeah. I didn’t need to take it with me because everyone there is aware… But this is the thing about other countries: They’ve lived through this. They’ve gone through this. They know what this is like, and they are just biding their time saying, ‘When the people decide enough is enough, it will be enough.'”

'The View': Alyssa Farah Griffin Makes Bold Prediction About Congress, Trump White House

Goldberg’s decision to take a break from The View to star in the soap opera was announced back in June when she revealed on social media, “I just wanted to stop in and say how happy I am to be joining the cast of Un Posto Al Sole. They know it’s a crazy idea. I know it’s a crazy idea. But, what a wonderful thing to do.”

She is expected to appear in multiple episodes airing in 2026.

The View, weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC