Whoopi Goldberg has revealed she was close to death after a serious bout of pneumonia.
The actress and presenter, who is a host on The View, has been absent from the show since February after being taking ill. Her colleague later revealed she had pneumonia.
On Friday, Goldberg returned to the show – albeit via video link – to give an update on her health as she explained how she had been struck down with pneumonia in both lungs and had turned “septic”.
“I am here. I am up and moving around — not as fast as I’d like to be, but I am okay. I’m not dead. Here’s what happened,” the Sister Act star said.
“Yes, I came very, very close to leaving the Earth. Good news, I didn’t.”
Goldberg went on to thank people for their good wishes, even people who aren’t “huge fans” who has been saying “nice things”.
She finished: “Ladies, I cannot wait to see you all. This has been interesting and I’ll tell you about it when we’re all at the table. To everybody, see you soon.”
Goldberg, 63, has been missing from the popular US daytime show since early February but her ill health was only addressed after several weeks, on February 20, by colleague Joy Behar.
After rumours began to circulate that Goldberg was actually going to host the Oscars, Behar told the audience that Goldberg was “on the mend” after pneumonia.
“She’s actually recovering from pneumonia. I saw her last night and she’s very funny still, and we had big laughs. She’s getting there, she’s on the mend.
“There are all these conspiracy theories on the Internet that she’s not really sick and she’s secretly preparing to host the Oscars. She’s not even well enough to host this show right now, let alone the Oscars.”
Goldberg’s straight-talking on The View saw her hit headlines earlier this year when she defended Liam Neeson following his controversial interview during which he revealed his reaction to a friend’s rape.
Goldberg said the actor was “not a bigot” after he admitted to roaming the streets with a weapon hoping to kill a black person.
