'The View' paid tribute to the "vision [and] passion" of the late Barbara Walters on Tuesday (03.01.22).
The veteran broadcaster passed away on Friday (30.12.22) aged 93 and a special episode of the daytime talk show she founded in 1997 saw co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin celebrate the life and legacy of the pioneering journalist.
Beginning with a montage and tribute to Barbara, the introduction said: "The woman who changed the way the world watches daytime TV.
"It's her vision, her passion, her show, and today, The View remembers Barbara Walters.
Joy opened the discussion and described her former co-host as "the original role model".
She said: "People have been talking about her on all of the shows, but we knew her better than anyone, I think.
"[Barbara] had no mentors or role models, she was the original role model for everybody else.
"She very much defied sexism and defied ageism. She went right into the jaws of the lion... She started The View when she was 68 years old -- very few people start a brand new career at 68."
Whoopi agreed: "The industry had to respect her. She did not allow them not to respect her."
"There was nobody like her. Like all firsts, she's the first, and there are many of us duplicates. But there will never be another Barbara Walters."
Later in the show, former 'View' co-hosts Meredith Vieira, Debbie Matenopoulos, Lisa Ling, Sherri Shepard, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Star Jones also joined the discussion, in person, on the phone and via Zoom to remember Barbara.
Star praised her late colleague as "the best gossiper" who "loved a dirty joke".
She added: “Barbara is the one who introduced me to the whole Upper East Side social scene. The best seat in the house at any social event was next to Barbara Walters. She could tell you everything about everybody in the room.”
Debbie, who is the youngest panellist in the show's history, said Barbara had "single-handedly changed [her] life".
She added: "I was a 22-year-old journalism student when she picked me to sit next to her on this show.”
Elisabeth described Barbara as her "TV mom".
She said: "She and I had a layered relationship. She was my TV mom, my mentor... for 10 years I had the privilege of sitting next to Barbara Walters and getting my masters in broadcasting, I like to say."
The episode concluded with a look back at some of the late star's biggest interviews on the show, as well as reliving the emotional moment from her final day on 'The View' in 2014, which saw Oprah Winfrey join the panel to introduce Barbara's "legacy"; a string of female journalists including Diane Sawyer, Connie Chung and Jane Pauley.
