Sara Haines explains absence from 'The View' due to father-in-law's death

Sara Haines shared that her absence from 'The View' was due to the death of her father-in-law. During her return to the show on Thursday, Haines, 48, explained that her father-in-law had been in hospice care for a week prior to his passing. "I wanted to share why I was missing yesterday," she stated. "My father-in-law passed away. He [had] been in hospice for a week, so we knew it was coming." Haines expressed that the news allowed her family to release some of the emotional burden they had been carrying. She learned of his passing right before the live broadcast on Wednesday and decided to sit out that episode. Haines has been married to Max Shifrin since 2014 and they have three children together: son Alec, 10, daughter Sandra, 8, and son Caleb, 7. She described her father-in-law as the most important person in her husband's life, stating, "I think I learned about this man on my first date because [he] was Max’s North Star." Haines also addressed rumors regarding her absence, clarifying that she was not sick. Co-host Joy Behar confirmed that Haines was not unwell during the show, which followed speculation after an exchange between Behar and Whoopi Goldberg. Goldberg also announced her own upcoming absence from the show for two weeks while filming a movie titled 'Women Like Us,' produced by Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.