Who is Whoopi Goldberg’s daughter, Alexandrea Martin? All about the View host’s family as she welcomes a great-grandchild

Actress, comedian, television host, and author, Whoopi Goldberg, shared the “wonderful” news of recently welcoming her second great-grandchild, Lotus Dean. The newborn is the daughter of Whoopi’s grandson, Mason Dean.

On the December 8 episode of her show, The View, Goldberg, 70, announced while showing photographs:

“I’m going to start out today because I have some fun news from over the weekend. My family welcomed Lotus Dean to the world. She’s 6lbs., 3oz. That’s Lotus and Ruby [the dog]. She is, that’s her dad — my grandson, Mason.”

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin congratulated Whoopi Goldberg on the newest addition to her family. Meanwhile, Sunny Hostin said of Lotus Dean, “He looks in love.” The veteran host jokingly replied, “Yeah, that’ll change.”

She added:

“It’s a wonderful thing. It’s a wonderful thing. This is my second… I never thought I’d have two great-grandkids. To be there for that.”

Whoopi Goldberg shares her only child with her first husband and drug counselor, Alvin Martin. The daughter, Alexandrea Martin, is also an actress, producer, reality TV personality, and businesswoman.

Co-host Ana Navarro congratulated Alex Martin for being a “grandmother again.” Whoopi again joked that she didn’t think about that, but rather about herself.

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All about Whoopi Goldberg’s daughter

Alexandrea Martin was born on May 9, 1973. Her parents divorced when she was six. As a single mother, Whoopi Goldberg had to face financial hardships, something he shared on The View during a June 2023 episode.

She admitted to doing what she needed to do when her daughter was young to make ends meet, being a “welfare mom,” and getting $27 per week. Goldberg confessed that the dire situation pushed her to find work.

Alex Martin also shared similar sentiments while speaking with TheGrio.com.

“I know what it’s like with the food stamps, because my mom has her [Welfare] cards framed. Seriously … I remember that. I remember we had the one-room space and we slept in the bed together.”

Crediting her mother and the hardship they faced together for shaping her into the woman she was, Alexandrea added:

“I remember when we wanted to travel, we would drive across the country in broken-down bugs. We didn’t have the money to go to the movies. I found friends, I walked down the street, I climbed trees, I went camping.”

After Whoopi Goldberg had a successful Hollywood career, her daughter began joining her on set. For instance, Alex Martin made a guest appearance in her mother’s 1985 movie, The Color Purple, and the 1993 film, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.

Alexandrea’s other acting/ producing credits include American Intellectuals, Call Me Claus, Delta Nights, Descendants, Sensitive Men, and Strange as Angels. She starred in her self-titled BET Centric reality show, According to Alex, in 2015. It was executive-produced by her mother.

The six-episode miniseries revolved around Alexandrea’s life from adolescence to adulthood, introduced her friends and family, and offered an insight into her career, including entering a culinary school, joining a hip-hop group, and starting the self-care business, Nail Buzz, with her close friend Leisa Rachal.

Whoopi Goldberg’s daughter was also crowned as Miss Golden Globe at the 1994 ceremony and is currently the Golden Globe Ambassador.

Alexandrea Martin met her producer husband Bernard Dean at a swimming pool in the 1990s. They married and divorced twice before tying the knot a third time in Las Vegas in October 2011. The couple share two children, Jerzey, 29, and Mason, 27. Alex’s eldest child, Amara Skye, is from her past relationship.

“It’s about love, it’s about growing up, it’s about coming full circle. It’s about destiny and fate and being where you’re supposed to be. I’d do it again. The diamond gets bigger,” Alex said of her three marriages to the same man.

Meanwhile, Whoopi Goldberg told PEOPLE in the past that she’s a “bad influence” on her grandkids and once taught the F-word to her grandson, Mason, when he was two. However, they looked up to her for “adventure,” according to Goldberg’s chat with Parade in November 2007.

Earlier, in an episode of The View, Whoopi Goldberg introduced her daughter as her “best friend” and described her as:

“one of the most trustworthy and loyal people I know.”

The veteran host also praised Alex Martin’s sense of humor, sharing that she often made her laugh.

“We can talk to each other any time during the day or night. I just like her a lot,” Goldberg added.

Alex Martin returned the favor and told Wendy Williams in 2015 that she and her mom were close, and they talked “multiple times a day.”

Later, during a May 2024 interview, Whoopi told PEOPLE that Alexandrea taught her to “pick your battles and then fight those” as one can’t “win” every fight.

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Now, Goldberg told her View co-hosts that her great-grandchildren called her by her first name as she was not their “grandma” but rather “great-grandma.”

She also explained how her first great-grandchild, Charli Rose Burr-Reynaud, called her "Oopi" for the longest time as she couldn’t pronounce her Ws. However, she was confident and hopeful that the newest one, Lotus Dean, was “ready to get stuff done” and was “alert.”

Earlier, the Sister Act star told Jimmy Fallon on his late-night talk show that she wouldn’t be a “normal” great-grandmother. She embraced the role for the first time in 2014 when her granddaughter, Amara Skye, welcomed her daughter, Charli.