Joy Behar Reappears on ‘The View’ in Sweats and Slippers After Taking a Break Due to Health Issues

Joy Behar is back on The View and was featured as part of an upcoming program after her time with COVID-19 earlier this month. For the first time since becoming ill, Joy, 81, was seen on Monday enjoying Christmas with another well-known figure on television. Don Lemon, 57, a former CNN presenter, shared a photo of himself on Instagram with Behar and other pals, showing them all standing in front of a Christmas tree at home. Behar, wearing sweatpants, a loose-fitting blouse, and slippers for the occasion, seemed happy as she grinned at the camera.

After Behar missed the Tuesday, December 12 edition of The View, people began to notice her extended absence from the show. Whoopi Goldberg addressed the issue and gave some much-needed answers, even if many were unaware that there could be a problem with the daytime staple since she does not cohost the Monday program. As reported by Deadline, at the beginning of the episode, Goldberg revealed that Behar would not be joining the "Hot Topics" table. Goldberg said, "Joy is out this week, you know why? She finally got Covid. Three years… four years in… it finally got her." While Behar recovered, Yvette Nicole Brown took over for her, and on December 15th, The View began its holiday hiatus. Over the years, Brown has made many guest cohost appearances on The View. It wasn't immediately apparent whether she would fill in for Behar for one show or the whole week. 

On the other hand, on social media, fans voiced their displeasure with the show's lengthy delay, voicing their anger. As reported by The U.S. Sun, one fan wrote, "Yep, just another week off. Like they just came off a long vacation, they get way too much time off for what they make. So they will be gone till January 2; now must be nice." A second fan wrote, "I agree. They take a lot of time off haha."

A third one added, "I wish they would come up with a different way to fill the hour rather than reruns. Watching them discuss old news has me immediately switching channels. Maybe just put together clips of guests for the show instead of showing the hot topics section?" A fourth one commented, "I wish they would re-run the older shows, not from this season, but back in the first few seasons before they became the majority hot topics." Goldberg herself has fought COVID-19 many times; her most recent fight occurred earlier this year and prevented her from making an appearance on the Season 27 opening episode of The View. She had previously tested positive for the virus in November 2022 and during the Christmas break in 2021, which prevented her from returning to the performance in January 2022.