TV personality Whoopi Goldberg is taking a break as a co-host of “The View” this week and will instead be lounging in the sun at her Italian getaway while filming soap opera “Un Posto Al Sole.”
Goldberg, 69, whose real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson, has been a moderator on the series for 18 seasons, making daily appearances alongside panel members Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines, and Ana Navarro.
But she recently took to Instagram to announce that she was taking a weeklong hiatus from the show to pursue another work project—one that is taking her thousands of miles away from the New York studio where “The View” films.
Posting an image of herself getting hair and makeup done to her Instagram Stories, Goldberg urged viewers not to panic about her sudden disappearance, revealing: “If you notice I’m not on ‘The View’ this week, it’s because I’m in Italy working.”
While the Oscar winner did not reveal any additional details about her work project in the post, she previously explained to Brian Teta, executive producer for “The View,” that she would be spending the week in Italy to film for “Un Posto Al Sole,” having landed a role on the show in June.
“It’s great because you love acting and it’s nice for you to get a break from here occasionally. We will miss you desperately,” Teta told Goldberg during an episode of the podcast “Behind the Table.”
“But you’ll be back, which is the important thing to mention. You’re going to be on the longest-running soap opera in Italy.”
Goldberg admitted that she was somewhat apprehensive about her Italian soap opera debut, revealing that, while she has ample experience working on American TV, she wasn’t sure how the experience would differ in Europe.
“I only know soap operas here, so I don’t know,” she said. “I love a soap opera. I love it. … I don’t know how they work there. … It’ll be new and I wish I could take y’all with me.”
The actress added that she had been eager to pursue other projects outside of “The View,” revealing a desire to expand her horizons beyond the popular talk show.
“It’s time for me to do some things in addition to this,” she said, before revealing: “This is the longest-running job I’ve ever had.”
When Goldberg first announced that she had landed a role in the popular Italian soap, she expressed her excitement at the opportunity, while revealing how she planned to deal with the language barrier.
“They know it’s a crazy idea, I know it’s a crazy idea, but what a wonderful thing to do. I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited. No, my Italian is not perfect, but we’ve worked it out. Ciao! See you on TV,” she said.
In the caption of the June Instagram post, it was revealed that Goldberg’s character would premiere in the series in 2026 for multiple episodes.
Luckily, Goldberg is no stranger to Italian culture, having long owned a vacation home in Sardinia, where she lives in one of the world’s rare “blue zones.”
While speaking to Jimmy Fallon on the “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” in 2024, she noted that Sardinia is one of the first designated “blue zones,” which refers to an area where people live longer, happier lives.
She noted that people live longer “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” she said referring to Americans.
Speaking about Italy, Goldberg added, “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. 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.”
Goldberg previously owned a property in Stintino, however, she has since offloaded it.
Her hiatus from “The View” comes after she confessed that she “can’t afford to retire.”
The Oscar-winning actress—who has a net worth of $20 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth—told “Entertainment Tonight” that, because she did not “marry well,” she is forced to carry on making her own living.
“If you don’t marry well, you got to keep working,” the TV host, who has been married three times, said.
When the reporter suggested that Goldberg “could probably afford” to retire thanks to her longtime Hollywood career, the TV host replied, “No, not by now. Not yet. I gotta keep paying those bills, baby.”
Despite Goldberg’s insistence that she has not yet earned enough money to take a step back from the daily grind, she does boast a small fortune when compared with the average person. It includes a sizable mansion that is one of a host of properties the actress has bought and sold over the years.
However, her life has not always been quite so glamorous or lavish, beginning in a small unit in the Chelsea-Elliott Houses in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
“My room was in the back, just a bed and a bureau and windows. It’s a great place to grow up, because we were outside 98% of the time, winter and summer. We all were poor, and we all knew it, but it somehow didn’t really stop us from doing anything,” she previously told Vulture of her childhood abode.
Goldberg lived there until moving to California when she got married to Alvin Martin in 1973 at the age of 18. They welcomed a daughter, Alexandra Martin, in 1974.
Goldberg relocated to Berkeley in the ’70s and held down many jobs before she made it big.
In the ’80s, she snapped up a Victorian-style home for $335,000, which sprawled across 1,455 square feet and had a two-story barn.
She held that property for 30 years before selling it for $2 million in 2015.
During her ownership of that home, Goldberg, who split from her first husband in 1979, was married two more times—first to David Claessen in 1986, a marriage that lasted just two years, then to Lyle Trachtenberg in 1994.
She divorced Trachtenberg in 1995—and has since stated that she never wants to marry again.
Indeed, Goldberg’s relationship with real estate has been much more concrete than her romantic ties—with the actress going on to add several other properties to her portfolio after purchasing her first house.
In the ’90s, she snapped up an expansive Pacific Palisades property, this time paying $2.5 million. Proving her fondness for clinging to her favorite property finds, Goldberg kept that dwelling for 25 years before offloading it for $8.8 million in 2018.
In 2003, the TV host set her sights on a cozy Vermont getaway with 6,100 square feet, four bedrooms, and 3.5 bathrooms.
She sold the property in 2012 for $1.5 million.
In 2007, she picked up a full-floor loft in SoHo, which sprawled across 3,800 square feet, for $4 million. However, she sold it in 2010 for just under $3 million.
Goldberg’s main residence is a New Jersey mansion that she snapped up in 2009 for $2.8 million.
The home, which was built in 1927, boasts eight bedrooms and measures 9,486 square feet.