In 2014, Barbara Walters announced her retirement. Her biological daughter made a pledge to look after her if her mother ever had Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, Barbara has turned into a hermit, and she no longer leaves her apartment in New York. The consensus among her coworkers is that she is doing an outstanding job.
Barbara Walters, who is widely recognized as one of the most prominent names in journalism, recently discussed her family life with her adopted daughter, Jacqueline Dena Guber. The television anchor said that after she had three miscarriages, she and her husband at the time made the difficult decision to place their child for adoption.
When they were eating dinner with another couple, they quickly found themselves in a position to seize the chance. During dinner, the other married couple discussed how they wished they could adopt a boy instead of a girl since they already had a child who had blonde hair and blue eyes. They indicated that they preferred to have the boy rather than the girl, and Walters leaped at the opportunity.
After they said that they did not want to keep the child, the host of “ABC Evening News” volunteered to take care of the young lady. The other couple agreed, and a short time later, all of the necessary paperwork was completed. Jackie was the name that Walters gave to her newborn daughter, and she and the kid quickly grew quite close. Walters named her after her sister.
Walters made the decision to raise her daughter away from the scrutiny of the public, and Guber wanted to live her life out of the limelight nonetheless. The fact that she had a renowned mother made it incredibly difficult for her to maintain her anonymity. Despite this, she did her best to conceal her identity. The comment made by Walters was that “she simply doesn’t want to be a star.”
The TV personality was surprised by the number of people who wrote in to claim that they had guessed she was pregnant before she made the announcement that her kid was on the way. She did not deviate from the narrative and continued to tell others that Guber was her biological kid, but she did not disclose the lie to her own daughter. The moment she had the opportunity, Walters revealed that she was adopted.
Walters’ Retirement after Surgery
Even while Walters cherished her role as a mother, she still had a profession that needed to be managed. After some time, she found that the demands of her employment prevented her from devoting nearly as much time as she had hoped to her relationship with Guber. The talk show presenter was forced to make a decision between having a prosperous job and a close personal life. It was her statement that:
“I was so preoccupied with my professional life. It’s the issue that’s been around forever. And, you know, when you’re lying in your hospital bed, are you going to say things like, “I wish I spent more time at the office?” No. You’ll remark something along the lines of “I wish I spent more time with my family,” and I share that sentiment to some extent. My only regret is that I didn’t get to spend more time with my Jackie.”
She also stated that she was not cut out to be a wife and that she had a terrible marriage. She contemplated the myriad of factors that may have contributed to this result and concluded that her profession could have been too important at times, or perhaps she was difficult to get along with. She eventually realized that she functioned better on her own and that she didn’t feel lonely very frequently.
The legendary journalist made the decision in 2014 to slow down her job so that she could devote more time to raising her kid. Despite the fact that she resigned from her post, she said that there are some circumstances in which she would welcome the opportunity to resume holding it. She added that the Pope and Queen Elizabeth II were still on her list of potential interview subjects.
She said that she desired a lengthy vacation from journalism, despite the limited circumstances under which she might consider returning to the field; nonetheless, the likelihood of her doing so is minimal. The journalist continued her role as a co-executive producer when she stepped down as host of “The View,” and she used her free time to pursue interests that she never had the opportunity to pursue while she was employed.
When questioned about the significance of love in achieving happiness in one’s life, Walters had the following response: “Probably the most essential thing you could have, and it’s not necessarily romantic love.” The one person who was never absent from Walters’s life was her daughter, despite the fact that she had many husbands throughout the course of her lifetime.
After she stopped working, Walters spent most of her time at her apartment in New York City, where she felt she was safest. There have been no reports of her leaving the house, and all available evidence points to the fact that she remains inside almost all of the time. According to a number of publications, she is reportedly having a difficult time in her latter years, and her former co-host, Jenny McCarthy, stated:
“I just had a conversation with Sherri Shepherd about it, and we’re going to send some cards over to her because I heard that she’s at a spot where she’s not doing well,” you said.
It has been said by several sources that the legendary journalist is suffering from an increasing level of bewilderment and forgetfulness, and that she does not leave the house out of concern that she may trip and smash anything. However, according to a representative for Walters, the elderly actress is in good health.
In a recent interview with Rosie O’Donnel, a friend of Barbara Walters and an occasional co-host on “The View,” Rosie O’Donnel said that the comedian is beginning to feel the effects of her advancing age. O’Donnel was of the opinion that the former presenter was not capable of communicating with other people.
In spite of her advanced age and the apparent health problems she is experiencing, Walters has a strong support system and the undying love of her daughter. The well-known television personality said in an interview that her daughter had assured her that she would look after her if she ever grew too old:
“Recently, my daughter told me, “Mom, when you have Alzheimer’s, you may come down and live next to me.” She did not say, “if you have Alzheimer’s,” but rather, “Mom, when you have Alzheimer’s!” That is seen as a really heartfelt complement on my part.”
We can only hope that Walters will be able to enjoy the remainder of her life to the fullest thanks to Guber’s assistance. The journalist was a role model for an entire generation’s worth of female journalists, and many of those women have remarked that they gained a lot of knowledge from her. Walters was described by McCarthy as a “juggernaut” that “just keeps going.”