Whoopi Goldberg has found herself being stranded in Italy after flights were disrupted by a volcano that erupted.
Goldberg Stranded In Italy
When the ABC talk show The View opened on Monday, fans were stunned to see that the panel was down to just three of its regular hosts. Joy Behar, who is typically off on Monday, kicked things off by claiming that a producer had “begged” her to come in that morning to fill in.
“So you may be asking, ‘Why am I here on a Monday?’ I asked myself the same question,” began Behar, 83. “But [producer Brian Teta] begged me to come in. Begged me, on his knees, where he belongs. Why? Because we are down three cohosts today.”
“Whoopi is using the old volcano excuse. Watch!” she added.
The show then cut to a video of Goldberg, 70, standing beside a majestic view of the sea in Italy.
“I am in Sicily right now. Mount Etna, who is one of our active volcanoes here in Italy, decided to go off today,” Goldberg said.
“We have spent most of the day trying to get back to [the] United States and all of the airports are closed here. So I will be back as soon as I can,” she continued. “And I know that we got all kinds of stories about our different vacations. Well, I think my story just takes the cake! A volcano ate my homework!”
Watch Goldberg talk more about this in the video below.
More The View Co-Hosts Missing
Goldberg wasn’t the only co-host missing from The View on Monday. Indeed, also absent were co-hosts Ana Navarro and Sara Haines. Navarro could not come in because bad weather in Miami, Florida prevented her from getting back to New York City for the show.
“I’m sorry I won’t be there tomorrow. I’m sure the other ladies will have great, insightful things to say,” Navarro said in a video posted to Instagram. She went on to confirm that she would be spending the night at her home in Miami.
“We are going to bed because we are beat and exhausted,” she added. “Take a little time to enjoy The View without me.”
Meanwhile, Haines was “dealing with storm damage.”
“Ana is stuck in Miami because of the weather. It’s always hot there, what’s the problem?” Behar said. “Sara is dealing with storm damage. How many people are dealing with storm damage? Anybody in this group? No, just Sara!”
This forced Behar to come in on her day off and host The View alongside Sunny Hostin, Alyssa Farrah Griffin, and guest co-host Michelle Buteau.
Check out Behar’s full comments on this in the video below.
Mount Etna Erupts
This comes as Mount Etna, the largest volcano in Europe, has been erupting for several days. Located on the east coast of Sicily, the volcano ejected a huge cloud of volcanic ash on Sunday morning.
Local officials have sent out a red alert for the surrounding area. This has disrupted flights at Catania Airport, leaving Goldberg and many others stranded.
Check out some footage of the eruption in the video below.
Goldberg’s Love For Italy
Goldberg has long owned a vacation home on the Italian island Sardinia. In a 2024 interview, Goldberg gushed over Sardinia, saying that it is one of the first designated “blue zones. This refers to an area where people live longer, happier lives.
Goldberg went on to say that people live longer in Sardinia “because they don’t have a lot of BS to have to deal with.”
“We’re not always sure why we’re stressed, but people—you see it when you walk down the street. People are like—their hands are clenched. You know,” Goldberg said at the time, referring to Americans.
When asked what Italy is like, Goldberg replied, “There’s not a lot of stinky stuff in the air, and there’s not a lot of crap in the food.
“Our ways of doing things, I think, are not always the best ways for us,” she said. “So we’re starting to recognize that we’re eating things that have things we can’t pronounce. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t put it in your mouth.”
It seems that there could be worse places to be stranded than this Italian island. Only time will tell when Goldberg is able to leave and get back to the United States.