Whoopi Goldberg causes uproar on The View after casually teasing that she's been to JAIL - leaving her co-hosts flabbergasted

Whoopi Goldberg left her co-hosts on The View in shock during Wednesday's live broadcast when she casually mentioned she has spent time in prison - teasing that she may even have a criminal record.

Joy Behar in particular couldn't believe her ears and quickly asked 68-year-old Whoopi: 'When were you in jail?' but the Sister Act star remained coy and simply replied: 'It doesn't matter, does it?' with a smirk on her face.

Whoopi made the flippant comment as the panel discussed a random subject that had been handpicked by Joy, 81, from a mystery Hop Topics bag, which was lowered from the studio ceiling, and the card asked the hypothetical question: 'Would you rather hike the Appalachian trail by yourself, or spend six months in jail?'

'I'd rather watch Netflix!' Joy admitted as Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in: 'I would love to hike the Appalachian trail, I've always wanted to do that,' to which Joy replied: 'That's a stupid choice!' 

Whoopi Goldberg left her co-hosts on The View absolutely stunned during Wednesday's live broadcast when she casually mentioned she has spent time in prison

Joy Behar was clearly very confused and quickly asked Whoopi: 'When were you in jail?'

The panel, including Sara Haines, were discussing the hypothetical question: 'Would you rather hike the Appalachian trail by yourself, or spend six months in jail?'

'Whoopi, what would you do?' Alyssa, 34, then asked as the mother-of-one replied calmly: 'Well I've done both,' which led Alyssa to burst out laughing as she responded: 'Of course you have!'

'Which one is better?' Sunny Hostin asked, while Sara Haines added: 'When were you on the Appalachian trail?' as Whoopi teased: 'I'll tell you about it.'

However, later on in the show she felt the need to clarify that she was joking about her jail stint and explained that she did so because she's a 'humorist'.

As The View returned from the final commercial break, Whoopi announced: 'So, I just have to clear something up. I don't want people freaking out.

'You know there are jokes when you say, "Yeah, maybe I did the Appalachian trail and went to jail". Don't get it twisted, I'm a humorist, okay! So stop looking it up because that's what I know is happening.'

Confirming that fans will not find anything online about her spending time behind bars, Whoopi - who slammed the Veterans Affairs earlier on in the show - added: 'You'll be looking 'til the cows come home, honey!'

It was certainly a bizarre topic of discussion for the women to be having, but Whoopi revealed to viewers that it came about because her co-hosts were 'not thrilled' with the original chosen topic.

After their Appalachian trail chat, Joy asked: 'What was the topic we gave up, is what I want to know!' as Whoopi replied: 'Well, you gave up a fairly good topic to talk about this.

Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin (right) were both taken aback by Whoopi's comment too

The Sister Act star later confirmed that she was joking and didn't 'want people freaking out'

Earlier on in the show, Whoopi appeared frustrated as she slammed the Veterans Affairs after a leaked memo called for the removal of an iconic photo from their buildings

'The other topic was about the man and the woman. The woman says she doesn't like the kind of sex that her husband...' Whoopi continued, as Sara blurted out: 'Vanilla sex!'

'I said, "well what kind of stuff are you looking for?" They did not have an answer for that, so my answer for this is: she should have just gotten herself something she could put a battery in, put some googly eyes on it and talk to it and let it say whatever it needs to say, "yes, no, yes, no".

As the live studio audience started laughing and applauding Whoopi, Sunny chimed in: 'Because she liked him with everything else and I heard that dating is a hellscape right now!'

'Yeah but she should have spoken up, you can't complain about your two-year partner and how they don't reach your needs. If she's ready to opt out, or accept less, just speak up.'