Last week, Barbara Walters’ new book, Audition: A Memoir, and news of her revelation of the previously secret 1970s affair with former Senator Edward Brooke, the first black U.S. senator since the Reconstruction Era, predictably drew much attention. No doubt her interview on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will draw even more interest as she discusses her colorful public and private persona.

Barbara Walters 1970s

Senator Edward W. Brooke in 1973 – Photo Credit: Jim Cole

Barbara Walters shared other personal revelations in her interview.

Walters told Winfrey that she knew about [Star] Jones’ gastric bypass surgery long before “The View” co-host admitted it to the public, but she and the rest of “The View” women lied to keep it a secret because Jones didn’t want to talk about it.

“She decided to have a gastric bypass operation, but then she decided not to tell anybody,” Walters said on Tuesday’s “Oprah.” “Then we had to lie on the set every day because she said it was portion control and Pilates. Well, we knew it wasn’t portion control and Pilates.”

On June 27, 2006, Jones told People magazine she would be leaving Walters’ talk show because her contract wasn’t renewed, saying, “I feel like I was fired.” The next day, Walters said she was blindsided by Jones’ announcement and effective immediately, Jones would no longer appear on “The View.”

Walters also dished about former “View” moderator Rosie O’Donnell’s infamous shouting match with Elisabeth Hasselbeck in May 2007. The two got into a heated on-air debate about the Iraq War that prompted O’Donnell’s premature departure from the show.

Walters said she was at home during the on-air spat, “saying, ‘Go to commercial, Go to commercial!’” But Walters said that she didn’t regret having O’Donnell on the show and still respects her tremendously.

The veteran newswoman opened up about her 1970s affair with married U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke, the first African-American to be popularly elected to the Senate. During the years of their affair, Walters was a co-host of NBC’s “Today” show. The couple agreed to keep their relationship a secret for fear that public knowledge of it would ruin their careers. Their tryst ended before Brooke lost his bid for a third term in 1978.

Source: Barbara Walters Spills About Star Jones, Rosie O’Donnell

See also previous story:

• Barbara Walters’ Previously Secret Affair with Senator Edward Brooke No Longer Secret

Video via Popcrunch – Barbara Walters “Oprah” Video

Barbara Walters on The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast on May 6, 2008.