- The View returned from its holiday hiatus with Whoopi Goldberg back at the table.
- Goldberg began the show, though a mysterious noise sounded 13 seconds into her opening.
- The actress hasn’t been at the Hot Topics table since late June.
A View tradition — a mysterious ghostly noise of unknown origin — just heralded Whoopi Goldberg‘s grand return to the Hot Topics table following a two-week absence.
After years of sonic interruptions from an army of unknown entities, crashing sounds, and (of course) Joy Behar‘s militia of terroristic digital devices, aural phantoms followedThe View moderator back to her post and wasted no time making their presence known at the top of Monday’s episode.
As the 69-year-old took her seat alongside cohosts Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin for the first time since late June, she welcomed the studio audience back to the program on a bright note.
ABC
“First of all, yes, we are live, we are back!” Goldberg said to the cheering crowd, before focusing on a somber piece of news.
In the video above, Goldberg begins to speak, but around 13 seconds into her formal opening, a strange noise with no clear origin sounds over her voice.
The cohosts didn’t react in the moment, and it’s unclear if the noise was audible in the room or not. Entertainment Weekly has viewed footage from the episode on broadcast television, as well as its airing on YouTube TV, and the noise was present on both platforms.
EW has reached out to a representative for The View for comment.
Goldberg continued, turning the show’s focus to the recent deadly floods in Texas, and voiced well-wishing thoughts to those impacted by the natural disaster.
“We want to start by saying we’re keeping a very close eye on the fallout from the tragic floods in Texas,” she said to the camera. “Dozens are still missing, a flood watch is still in effect in some areas. So, please, if you can hear the sound of our voice, do everything you can to stay safe. Keep checking back with us, we’ll tell you what you can do and how you can help.”
ABC
Goldberg then proceeded with the day’s Hot Topics, which included criticism over Elon Musk‘s potential creation of a new political party, as well as the panel breaking down the results of the Sean “Diddy” Combs court case.
Prior to her return, Goldberg missed an additional week outside of the show’s annual holiday break so she could travel to Italy, where she received an award for her book, Bits and Pieces, and booked a role on an Italian soap opera.
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Guests slated to appear on the show amid The View‘s return from its July 4 holiday hiatus include Phaedra Parks, David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Jean Smart, and Gloria Steinem.
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC. Watch the mysterious noise from Monday’s broadcast in the video above.