Whoopi Goldberg Sends Birthday Love to Barbara Walters 6 Years After Journalist's Last Public Appearance

The View is honoring its creator Barbara Walters.

While the legendary journalist retired in 2014, fellow star Whoopi Goldberg couldn't help but give Walters a special on-air shoutout this week. "To the one and only Barbara Walters who had a birthday yesterday," Goldberg said on the Sept. 26 episode of The View. "We want to say 27 never looked so good."

Walters, who put together the original panel of women—Debbie Matenopoulos, Star Jones, Joy Behar, and Meredith Vieira—in 1997, served as a host until her retirement. Throughout the years there have been numerous line-up changes, but Barbara remained a panelist on the show for all seventeen seasons.

Since stepping back from the iconic TV table, the reporter has stayed out of the spotlight. In fact, Walters' last public appearance was in 2016 at the New York premiere of Woody Allen's film Cafe Society.

Whoopi Goldberg Tries to Wrap The View 20 Minutes EARLY

Goldberg, who joined the show in 2007, has always praised Walters for creating a showing with such longevity. "I think the longevity of the show is Barbara Walters," Goldberg told E! News in 2016. "I think it's all about respect for her. I think that whatever thoughts people had about taking the show off air they realized what was coming up."

"Without her there would be no show," she added. "All these accolades point directly at her."

Earlier this year The View celebrated its 25th anniversary, with the original hosts, sans Walters, throwing a reunion at New York's Essex House where they first auditioned for the show.

The current hosts took their celebrations out of the country with a vacation to The Bahamas.

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