Joy Behar has officially made television history. Just don’t expect her to get too sentimental about it.

As The View kicked off its landmark 30th season, the 83-year-old comedian learned she had now hosted more seasons of an American talk show than any other woman — a distinction that even she hadn’t realized she’d earned.

“I heard that,” Behar jokes to PEOPLE in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Sept. 8, after the milestone was announced on air. “It’s amazing!. I’ve been on longer than Regis and longer than the Jolly Green Giant!”

Asked how she processes a milestone like that, Behar’s answer was characteristically Joy.

“I feel old, really old,” she says. “I know I don’t look old, but I am.”

Still, the achievement has given Behar a chance to reflect on just how much time has passed since The View premiered in 1997 — and on a conversation she once had with the woman who started it all, Barbara Walters.

“I said to Barbara one time, ‘Barbara, we’re going to get old on this show,’ ” Behar recalls. “She said, ‘You’re going to get old anyway. So you might as well spend it on television.’ “

“As always, she was right,” Behar adds.

Behar is the only original member of The View still appearing on the long-running ABC daytime talk show, which Walters created with television producer Bill Geddie. The series premiered in August 1997 with Walters, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones and Debbie Matenopoulos at the table alongside Behar.

But Behar’s place at the table wasn’t always as permanent as it is today. When The View first began, she wasn’t even there every day.

“I was a part-time co-host on the show at first,” Behar remembers to PEOPLE. “When Barbara took her two days off, then I would be on.”

The former Good Morning America receptionist soon became a full-time co-host and remained with The View for 16 seasons before leaving the show in 2013. After two years away, she returned to the table in September 2015 and has remained there ever since.

Decades later, Behar has become one of the show’s most recognizable voices, bringing her background as a stand-up comedian to conversations that can pivot from politics and breaking news to celebrity interviews and the hosts’ personal lives.

She currently hosts alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Ana Navarro, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin.

But despite having spent more time at the table than any of her fellow co-hosts, Behar insists it took her nearly three decades to understand exactly how the show works.

“Well, it took me 28 years to really understand how to do this show,” she says.

Her secret? “It’s a volleyball game. This is what I always tell them,” Behar explains. “Don’t be thinking this is a golf game. It’s not a golf game. Don’t come here with your one stick. No. You have to bounce the ball around.”

That ability to volley has helped Behar navigate 28 seasons of changing co-hosts, cultural shifts and countless headline-making Hot Topics, all while maintaining the comedic instincts that first landed her at the table.

And while Behar may joke about getting older, she’s still finding plenty to keep her busy away from The View, too. The comedian continues to perform and write for the stage, most recently presenting Bonkers in the Boroughs, a collection of short comedic plays set across New York City.

“I love to write. I love to write and I love to hear people laugh,” she says, of the project. “Each one takes place in a different borough. And they’re funny and they’re quirky and wacky.”

Related Stories

‘The View’ Season 30: Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and Returning Co-Hosts Toast ‘Incredible’ Milestone in New Promo (Exclusive)

ABC Admits That FCC Threats Forced ‘The View’ to Book Fewer Political Guests in Recent Months

Behar said the format is something she can continue expanding, revealing she already has “three other or four other ones” she plans to put into a future iteration of the show.

She’s also found success with My First Ex-Husband, her comedy about women reflecting on their first marriages, which she noted has even played across the pond.

“We did it in London. It was a huge hit, which shows you that women everywhere in the world can’t stand their first ex-husband,” Behar teases. “It’s an international feeling that women have.”

And if Behar seems particularly adept at reminding View audiences about her latest projects, she can thank Walters for that, too.

Asked whether there was a piece of advice from the legendary journalist that has stayed with her all these years, Behar didn’t hesitate.

“Publicize, publicize, publicize,” she says. “No one will watch your stuff if you don’t let them know where it is.”

Thirty seasons after Walters first gave her a seat at the table, Behar is still taking her advice.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.