Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar & Costars Pay Tribute To Barbara Walters On 'The View': 'She's The Reason We Are All Sitting Here'

Gone but never forgotten: the women of The View honored creator and alum Barbara Walters on the Tuesday, January 2 episode, the first that aired since her Friday, December 30, death.

"Tributes are pouring in from around the world to celebrate the life of Barbara Walters and today we are remembering our friend and colleague — and the reason why we are all sitting here," Whoopi Goldberg stated within the first few minutes of the show.

"If not for her, I don’t know where most of us would be," added the EGOT winner, 67, who gave way for Joy Behar to speak.

"People have been talking about her on all of the shows but we knew her better than anyone," the 80-year-old star declared. "We had dinners with her, we hung out with her and we fooled around with her."

The comedian also commended Walters for her trailblazing ways, having "defied sexism and ageism."

"She started The View when she was 68 years old — very few people start a new career at that age," she pointed out. "And also, she had no mentors or role models because she was the original role model for everybody else."

Debbie Matenopoulos, a guest co-host on the episode, revealed she had a "mother-daughter" relationship with Walters, insisting the late journalist "single-handedly changed my life."

Sunny Hostin recalled how during her first days of the talk show, Walters "started helping me. I thought, oh my goodness, the generosity of that moment. I was so scared and I was so nervous and she validated my opinion."

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Alyssa Farrah Griffin, the newest woman to join the round table, offered her personal story as well.

"I'm grateful, I’m in my 30s, I always saw women in anchor roles, I always saw females on TV in those presences — but it’s because she opened that door," she noted. "That didn’t exist before Barbara Walters. In every sense of the word, she was a pioneer."

As OK! reported, Walters was 93 when she passed at her New York home, having battled dementia for several years.