Whoopi Goldberg broke her no-weddings rule because Behar’s wedding was all about “practicality”

Whoopi Goldberg has zero interest in weddings, but she made an exception for her The View co-host and friend, Joy Behar.

Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar. PHOTO: AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANIES VIA GETTY

On Wednesday’s episode of The View, Sara Haines asked Goldberg if she had ever been a bridesmaid before, which prompted the 67-year-old to reveal her no-weddings rule. “I don’t go to weddings,” she told her co-hosts, which shocked Behar.

Behar, who married Steve Janowitz in 2011 after 29 years of dating, noted that Goldberg attended her wedding. “Why, you came to mine, to Steve,” she said in response.

Goldberg explained that she made an exception for Behar, because her co-host’s wedding was as much about being practical as it was about love. “Yours is the only one I went to,” the Sister Act actress explained. “Because I love the reason you got married — not just because you guys were in love, but because you guys wanted to make sure that you had somebody in case somebody had to pull the plug.”

When Goldberg prompted Behar, “Isn’t that what you said?” The 80-year-old confirmed she did tell Goldberg marrying Janowitz was, in part, about planning for future practicalities with a nod. “And I thought, ‘You know, love is great, but practicality is everything,’ ” the Till actress told Behar and viewers.

Prior to walking down the aisle with Janowitz, Behar briefly broke off their engagement in 2009. Since they officially said “I do” in 2011, they’ve been going strong. Behar even gave former The View co-host Meghan McCain marriage advice back in 2020.

“You’ve given me a lot of really good advice,” McCain told Behar on the show at the time. “You have given me very good marriage advice about having to deal with a woman in the public eye and a husband who has to deal with a woman like us — who [are] very polarizing — and their reactions in the media.”

As for Goldberg, she has been candid about her feelings on marriage in the past. Previously, she was married and divorced three times. In 2016, she told The New York Times that she’s “not that interested” in marriage, and revealed she previously tied the knot because she felt it was what society expected from her.

Since then, she has learned to embrace her love of alone time.

“I’m much happier on my own,” she told the publication. “I can spend as much time with somebody as I want to spend, but I’m not looking to be with somebody forever or live with someone.”