Wendy Williams has been suffering from serious health issues for over a year. Issues so severe, she lost her talk show. And now, she is finally getting help for it as she prepares for the next chapter of her work life.
“She is taking some time to focus on her health and wellness as she prepares for a major comeback for the next level in her career with The Wendy Experience Podcast,” Williams’ rep tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Ms. Williams is being treated by a team of some of the best doctors in the world. We ask for your prayers and well wishes during this time.”
The former talk show host has not fully disclosed what is ailing her, but she does suffer from Graves’ Disease.
Wendy Williams lost her television talk show, but she already has a new project in the works. The host announced that her podcast, The Wendy Experience, is coming soon.
When it will debut, and what it will be about, we don’t know. However, the Instagram page for the podcast says, “The Wendy Experience will be unforgettable! The Wendy Experience will be unforgettable!” How unforgettable? Only time will tell.
It has been a rough six months for Wendy Williams. Due to health issues, she has not been able to host her show at all this season. Therefore, the producers made the tough decision to cancel her show and give Sherri Shepherd her timeslot.
And through this all, we have not heard from the former talk show host. However, today, she broke her silence to Good Morning America. She did a phone interview with them, even though the 57-year-old said she has “the mind and body of a 25-year-old.”
She says she is healthy and will be ready to sit back in the purple throne in three months after she deals with some private non-health-related issues.
I would believe her if she did an on-camera interview instead of a phoner. To me, someone who spends their life in front of the camera suddenly doesn’t want to be on camera, speaks volumes. Whatever those volumes are, we don’t know.
Before she ended her interview with GMA, she had a message for the Wendy Watchers, “Keep watching because I’m going to be back on the Wendy show bigger and brighter than ever.” I hope that is true for her fans. But I don’t believe she will be. I hate to say it.
Michael Rapaport is hosting the Wendy Williams Show this week. Today, he showed off his dancing movies, and I am not sure that Standards and Practices will be happy with them. That is because they were less like the dancing you do vertically and more like the grinding you do horizontally.
While the censors might not like it, I am sure the female audience does.
Also, today, the daytime talk show announced who will be hosting this month. Kym Whitley and Finesse Mitchell start it off on Monday, and for the following three weeks, it will be Fat Joe & Remy Ma, then Sherri Shepherd, and finally Carson Kressley and Vivica A. Fox.
Sherri Shepherd, Fox Television Stations, and Debmar-Mercury announced today that, as expected, the actress will be taking over Wendy Williams’ time slot in September. Shepherd says that she is not replacing the ailing talk show host because her show Sherri will be different. How different, they have the Summer to work on that.
This was not an easy decision for the production company. “This is also a bitter-sweet moment for us and our partners at FOX. We all have a great love and affinity for Wendy, who grew into a true icon during her 12 incredible seasons as the solo host of a live, daily talk show dishing on ‘Hot Topics’ and interviewing celebrities,” Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein said. “Since Wendy is still not available to host the show as she continues on her road to recovery, we believe it is best for our fans, stations and advertising partners to start making this transition now. We hope to be able to work with Wendy again in the future, and continue to wish her a speedy and full recovery.”
Williams will not be back to wrap up her show due to medical issues. Instead, they will continue to have guests, including Shepherd, fill in until the season finale.
“She, more than anyone, understands the reality of syndicated television — you can’t go to the marketplace and sell a show that’s the Maybe Wendy Show. She understands why this decision was made from a business point of view, and she has been assured by Debmar-Mercury that should her health get to a point where she can host again and should her desire be that she hosts again that she would be back on TV at that time.”
UPDATE 1: Wendy Williams contradicted her publicist’s statement. To read what she wrote, then click here!
