Whoopi Goldberg just learned something incredible during a recent segment of her show.
During a January 2 taping of The View, Whoopi and fellow co-hosts Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin welcomed Henry Louis Gates Jr. to their Hot Topics table. He was there to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his hit PBS series Finding Your Roots, where he researches the lineage of celebrities and talks to them about their ancestry. When speaking about the impact the show has had on him, he halted the interview to reveal that he had a surprise for Whoopi about her own family.
"When I started the series, it was called African American Lives and I only did African Americans," he shared about the show. "In the first series, I did Oprah [Winfrey], Quincy [Jones], Chris Tucker, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and Whoopi, and we didn't have the sophisticated tests that we now use for DNA at that time. You all know about DNA cousins ... you have a DNA cousin, dear."
Upon hearing the news of having a long-lost relative, Whoopi couldn't help but be shocked by the revelation. What's more, she had to get to the bottom of who could possibly be a family member.
"Is it you?" she asked Henry, who immediately assured her they weren't cousins.
"No, I wish it were," Henry replied. "It is Tony Gonzalez, the football player."
As photos of Tony (who played 17 seasons in the NFL and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019) played on the screen, viewers witnessed Whoopi get all flustered at the surprise announcement. And if that wasn't enough, she had everyone else swooning right alongside her and sharing their own thoughts.
"That's my cousin?" she asked incredulously.
"Yeah!" Henry answered. "How about that for a Christmas present?"
"He is smokin'!" Sunny exclaimed, while Sara remarked, "I'm coming over to your family dinner."
Just like Whoopi, she wasn't the only one shocked to see Tony was a distant family member. When a clip of the moment circulated on TikTok, fans were equally interested with the discovery.
"Whoopi was about to say that cousin don’t count!! He FINE 🤣🤣🤣🤣," one person laughed. "Whoopi’s facial expression says it all!" another declared. "Whoopi was thinking ... Why does he have to be a cousin??? 😂😂😂🥰🥰🥰," a different viewer added.
Looks like Whoopi has to make room for one more member at her table come the holidays!
