WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW YORK- Barbara Walters is back.

After being sidelined for six weeks by chickenpox and a concussion, Walters returned Monday to ABC's "The View."

She got a thunderous welcome from the studio audience and co-hosts Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar.

The 83-year-old TV veteran declared that "after a lot of scratching and rest," she is "fine and healthy."

The only visible signs of her ordeal: a single chickenpox bump on her forehead, near a tiny scar from her fall.

Walters was hospitalized on Jan. 19 after fainting and cutting her head at a party in Washington. She had chickenpox at the time but didn't realize it. She suffered a concussion and got six stitches. Recently she had been resting in her New York home.