WHOOPI GOLDBERG TAKES BREAK FROM THE VIEW FOR NETFLIX FILM

Whoopi Goldberg has said she will be absent from The View for about two weeks starting 22 September, according to remarks made on the show's Behind the Table podcast. She told executive producer Brian Teta that the break is to film Netflix's upcoming project Women Like Us. Goldberg said she will still appear on the panel each Monday during that stretch. Teta said a rotation of former co-hosts will cover the remaining days. The disclosure came as The View marks its 30th season.

Teta named Lisa Ling, Star Jones, Sherri Shepherd and Debbie Matenopoulos as the former co-hosts standing in for Goldberg, with current co-host Joy Behar taking over as moderator while she is away. Teta said Behar was "up for it" and "always excited to moderate". Goldberg described Women Like Us, produced by Michelle Obama, as a film about five women, several of whom she has worked with before. She said it is "about change and getting older and having fun with your friends and people who get you" and centres on "finding your people".

Goldberg has taken breaks from the show before, having previously stepped away to work on the Italian soap opera Un Posto Al Sole and the television adaptation of Anansi Boys. On Keke Palmer's podcast in August, she said she values the flexibility her role gives her to pursue other projects, saying she remains "open" to outside work. Goldberg has moderated the programme's Hot Topics segment since 2007 and holds the record for the most consecutive seasons hosting the show, surpassing its creator, Barbara Walters.