United Kingdom, July 7 -- Whoopi Goldberg is stranded in Italy after a volcanic eruption grounded flights.

The actress-turned-TV presenter has been enjoying a vacation on the island of Sicily and was due to return to work on her panel show The View on Monday (06.07.26) but Whoopi had to miss the episode as she was unable to fly back to the US because plumes of ash from Mount Etna led to the island's Catania airport being closed.

Joy Behar stepped in for Whoopi on Monday's episode of Thew View and explained her absence, saying: "So you may be asking: 'Why am I here on a Monday?' I asked myself the same question.

"But [producer producer Brian Teta] begged me to come in. Begged me, on his knees, where he belongs. Why? Because we are down ...