Sherri Shepherd says that Barbara Walters created an "unbreakable bond" of sisterhood.
Sherri Shepherd remembers Barbara Walters
The renowned journalist - who passed away last month at the age of 93 - created the long-running talk show 'The View' in 1997 and as she looked back on her time on the panel, TV star Sherr, 55, reflected on how she and her former co-hosts such as Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg were all immediately in touch with each other when they heard about her death.
She told Entertainment Tonight: "Being with the ladies at 'The View', they're like my sisters. Even the ones that I didn't work with - Lisa Ling and Debbie Matenopoulos, we saw each other, and we just hugged. I kissed the screen that Star Jones was on and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. It's like a family. You never really leave 'The View.' When I heard the news, I immediately texted Joy, and immediately texted Whoopi and Elisabeth texted me, so, we were all on the phone. That's a sisterhood that just, the bonds never break."
During a special tribute show of 'The View' aired earlier this week, long-serving host Joy, 80, - who has appeared on the programme almost continuously since its inception - claimed that the daytime ladies knew her "better than anyone" whilst 'Sister Act' star Whoopi, 67, said there was "no one like her."
Joy said: "People have been talking about her on all of the shows, but we knew her better than anyone, I think ... {She] 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 added: "The industry had to respect her. She did not allow them not to respect her ... There was nobody like her."
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