Whoopi Goldberg has been making a pretty penny for hosting The View, it seems.
The Oscar-winning actress and comedienne, 70, has been a regular co-host for the show since 2007, serving as the de facto moderator for the panel.
She is joined by Joy Behar, who has co-hosted since the show’s 1997 inception (save for a two-season stretch in between), Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin.
As it turns out, the ABC talk show has been paying its hosts well, or at least when it comes to Whoopi, who told Keke Palmer during an appearance on her podcast that “the check” is what keeps her coming back season after season.
Whoopi Goldberg on her pay check for The View
Whoopi joined the actress on the August 4 episode of her podcast Baby, This is Keke Palmer, and when asked what she considered to be her favorite part of the gig, she responded: “The check. I love the check.”
And the Ghost star made sure to emphasize that it was indeed that high, although refrained from giving an actual number. “Trust me, you would be shocked. As soon as they’d show you the check, you’d be like, ‘What the…?'”
© Getty ImagesThe star noted, though, that jokes aside, she was grateful for having a job as consistent as The View, one she has held for almost 20 years and 20 seasons.
Why Whoopi loves being on The View
“I look around every day before I leave my house and I see my family and I see pictures of folks and I think, ‘Oh, yeah. It’s good to have a job.’ Then I come to work. A lot of people don’t have jobs right now,” she shared.
© Getty ImagesWhoopi continued: “I’m lucky. I like to talk. I like talking about stuff. I like people. I’m OK with what I think I believe. I don’t mind doing that, even when it irritates people. That’s what the show is. It’s not irritation necessarily, but it’s called The View.”
While joking that she feels “like I’ve been crazy-glued to that chair,” Whoopi shared some background on how she found the role. It turns out, the show’s creator and then-panelist Barbara Walters was the one who directly approached her after Rosie O’Donnell left.
© Getty Images“I needed a job. Barbara offered me a job,” she explained. “She said, ‘We just lost one of our people on the show. Would you consider coming over?’ I had been doing a radio show. I said, ‘Absolutely!’ So, she brought me over.”
Last year, the Sister Act star told Entertainment Tonight that she had no intention of retiring from The View anytime soon. “Who can afford to do that?” she quipped. “If you don’t marry well, you’ve got to keep working. I’ve got to keep paying those bills, baby.”
© Getty ImagesSo how much does Whoopi get paid for The View?
The salaries for the The View co-hosts are not public, per ABC guidelines, although multiple reports suggest that Whoopi and Joy specifically make somewhere between $6-$8 million a year, due to their seniority and prior resumés, while their co-hosts make closer to $1 million a year. Those figures are unconfirmed, however.
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