Barbara Walters Returns To ‘The View’ After Six Week Absence [Video]

Barbara Walters returned to The View Monday after being out for a month and a half for health issues.

Walters was originally out with a head injury, but she ended up contracting chicken pox about a week later.

“After a lot of scratching and a lot of rest, I am fine and I am healthy,” Walters said.

The veteran journalist said the majority of her absence was spent recovering from the concussion suffered from her fall. Her case of chicken pox, she said, “came and went weeks ago.”

“The head injury has taken longer,” the 83-year-old said. “Now happily my head is cleared and the concussion is over.”

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Walters was hospitalized after tripping on the stairs at the home of Peter Westmacott, Britain’s ambassador to the US. She suffered a cut on her forehead, as well as a concussion, but expected to be back at work shortly after the fall.

Unfortunately, about a week and a half later, Walters came down with a case of delayed chicken pox. While chicken pox is generally harmless in children, it can be life-threatening in older people and can cause complications such as pneumonia. She was told to rest and was away from The View for six weeks recovering.

Walters apparently contracted chicken pox after kissing a “well-known” actor on New Year’s.

“The next day, he left, and what he didn’t know then — and what I didn’t know at all — was he was about to develop a bad case of shingles,” she said when she returned to The View. “Now, if you have never had chicken pox you can get it from someone with shingles.”

Walters also received a special surprise from Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He brought her flowers and told her, “I can’t let you come back without flowers. I do this for everyone who gets sick in the city of New York.” Walters told the mayor he made her cry with his kind gesture.

You can watch Barbara Walters’ return to The View below.