Rosie Perez to return to 'The View' Feb. 3

NEW YORK, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Co-host Rosie Perez is to return to The View Feb. 3, the show announced Thursday.

The actress has been absent for the past few weeks while she rehearsed her role in the new Broadway play Fish in the Dark. However, some media reports have suggested the freshman panelist actually had been fired from the show after only four months.

"Listen up, people! I'm saying it loud and clear. Rosie Perez is back on The View Tuesday, Feb. 3 and we are rolling out the red carpet to welcome her back to the Hot Topics table," the daytime chat program's announcer said after a commercial break Thursday.

Perez's fellow panelist Rosie O'Donnell went on to say: "That's right! Rosie Perez is coming back. She is rehearsing for the new Larry David play on Broadway and she begins previews on Feb. 3. And she will be here that day, as well. So, don't always believe what you read in the press, folks."

Although O'Donnell made a similar statement about Perez's status with the show earlier this month, this was the first time an exact return date for Perez was announced.

Meanwhile, longtime View den mother Whoopi Goldberg -- whose bad back kept her off the show for most of January, but who returned Tuesday -- was out again Thursday.

"Whoopi's home resting up her back today," O'Donnell said without elaborating.