On December 12, 2023, fans tuning in for their daily dose of The View noticed something was a little different. Joy Behar wasn’t in her usual seat, and moderator Whoopi Goldberg quickly addressed the elephant in the room, letting everyone know that Joy had finally caught COVID. Now, after dodging it for years, Joy was taking some time to recover.
What Happened to Joy Behar?
It’s worth noting that Joy wasn’t scheduled to appear on December 11, 2023, since Mondays typically give her a well-deserved break. But on the following day, Whoopi stepped in to fill viewers in on Joy’s condition. “Hello, everyone, and welcome back to The View,” Whoopi said with her signature charm. “Guess what? Joy is out this week. Why? Well, she finally got COVID. After all these years—three, four years into this pandemic—COVID finally caught up with her.”
Her fellow cohost, Sara Haines, couldn’t resist chiming in with a little playful jab. “Finally, Joy can stop bragging about how she hasn’t caught it yet,” Sara quipped. Over the years, Joy’s ongoing avoidance of the virus became a running gag on the show, sparking lively debates among the panel.
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Fans wasted no time expressing their support for Joy on social media. This wasn’t the first time the beloved Baby Boom star had been absent from The View for a stretch of episodes. Back in early November, Joy stepped away from the show to focus on her play, Bonkers in the Boroughs, which premiered at the New York Comedy Festival. Whoopi reassured the audience, explaining, “We didn’t want her to feel stressed or unprepared. She needed to concentrate fully on this other project.”
At the time, Joy herself joked about her decision on the “Behind the Table” podcast. “I’m stepping back for a couple of days so I can give my full attention to this new project. It’s all about self-preservation, folks,” she said with her signature wit.
Back in March 2020, Joy took a precautionary break from The View when COVID first started spreading across the U.S. “I’m in a higher-risk group because of my age, but don’t get me wrong—I’m in great health,” she explained during one episode. “I may not look my age, but trust me, I’m up there. The number alone makes me dizzy.”
Who Stepped In for Joy Behar on 'The View'?
With Joy out this time, the show called in a familiar face to fill her seat: actress Yvette Nicole Brown. “I’m thrilled to be back with all of you,” Yvette said warmly. “I missed you guys so much.”
Yvette has guest-hosted on The View multiple times over the years, so she was a natural fit to step in for Joy. It wasn’t immediately clear if Yvette would be sitting in for the entire week or just for one episode. While guest cohosts are a regular feature on the show, fans can expect Joy to return next week, ready to dive back into the conversations that make The View such a beloved part of daily television.
