Barbara Walters taking time off from 'The View' for heart surgery

Barbara Walters, the 80-year-old creator of "The View," announced on the show Monday that she'll be taking time off starting "later this week" for surgery to replace a heart valve.

Her co-hosts got the news Monday morning shortly before viewers did. "I thought it best not to talk about it too far in advance," Walters said.

The recovery process is expected to take one to three months. With a break in July and hiatus in August, Walters and her doctor decided that now was a good time to take care of business. Walters said she's known about the problem for "many months." 

"You scared?" asked Whoopi Goldberg.

"Oh, only you would ask that question," Walters replied -- laughing and making the point that "it's not elective, it's not like ... having your face lifted." After praising her doctors and mentioning the support of her daughter, she continued: "I don't think I'm really scared; I'm glad it's going to be over with. It's going to be taken care of."

She plans to come "roaring back" in September.

Click here to watch video of Walters' announcement and the discussion that followed. 

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Barbara Walters attends the "Women in the World: Stories and Solutions" global summit at Hudson Theatre on March 12 in New York City. Credit: Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

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Comments

[Shamwow]

Barbara Walters is having heart surgery? I didn't know she had one.

[JamesJ]

Heart surgery at 80, Hmmmm. Under Obamacare, she'd get the blue pill

[MissAlice]

Yeah, I've always wondered, @Shamwow if some of these women on TV are cold and calculating. I bet many are. Ever since Walter confessed all the awful things she did in her life, I have no respect for her anymore.

[michelle]

Hey Shamwow, you are a jerk!

[John]

I've always enjoyed your style Barbara.

Get well soon.

[Gina]

Hello Barbara Walters,

Keep on smiling whatever betide you,
secure in the knowledge, God is always beside you.

I wish you well and a quick recovery.

[Keith w Haggard]

Poor Ms. Walters. I hope she does well in this surgery. I wish she would take this oppotunity to retire. She has become bizarre on the Veiw, asking and saying rediculous things. You can tell Whoopi loses patience with her. Her weird bird claw hands are so distacting. She has retired her Oscar interview show, and I think it is time to remove herself from television all together. She was a force at one time, but I think her time has passed. Take a well deserved retirement Ms. Walters.

[SmartAssProducts.com]

This is a LIVING BEING we're talking about, and she deserves better than the disgusting remarks being made about her. It doesn't matter whether you like her or not.

I hope her recovery is swift and uneventful.

[Mrs. Wade T. Holder]

I am 87 years of age and had to have a Maximo DR defibrillator implanted in me on April 17, 2006. After a month I had to go back to my heart doctor for a check up and
the x-ray they took then showed that one on the wires had broken aloose. So I had to have surgery imediately to have the wire re-attached. I was dinosed as "progressive heart failure". For about 6 months I had some problems but I go to my heart doctor now twice a year for a check-up. The last
two weeks I did have a check up and now I don't have to go back for 6 months, unless if I have some problem But as now I have no pain of any kind. I live by my self in a house behind a daughter & her husband's home. I do have a machine in my home thar the doctor will call me and tell me to use the machine and send the report to him over the phone. I watch THE VIEW a lot so all of us around my vicinity will keep her in our thoughts and prayers. I'll have to tell you about the time when I was in the doctor's office for a check up, I ask him if I was going to live for ever? He told me that I might live a long time if I do not get neumominia or hit by a BIG MACK TRACTOR TRAILER.

[Diane Wilson]

Am I the only person in the world who has always found Barbara Walters a total phoney? Her interviewing technique makes me cringe.Why she has been successful is a total mystery to me.

[Barb Dietrich]

Diane Wilson,
I do not know your age, however, Barbara has opened the doors for women not just in TV, but in being respected for a woman's abilities to stand in a man's shoes in a VERY man's world. She upped the ante in women's wage across the work place. We all have our presenting self and then there is the person we allow those close to us know, then we have our inner self that is only our own. To me she choose a professional, somewhat tough with a soft undertone. I bet she is a little prissy, but fun and would be fun to have lunch with on a personal setting. I wish her well and hope she does continue to be the view, and continues her sass she has started showing. Between Barbara and Whoopi that show is great. I like all of them and the age groups that each bring to the table is so very entertaining, so just enjoy. I would love to sit with them, I am 53 so I get what a lot of what many my age gets from the show in our own ways.