After months of silence, Wendy Williams finally addressed fans amid concerns about her health and rampant rumors regarding the media personality’s future on The Wendy Williams Show. However, despite Williams saying she wanted to return to New York and get back to her popular show, it was officially announced that Sherri Shepherd, who has been successfully guest-hosting on Williams’ show this season, will take over the time slot permanently with her own show, to be titled Sherri.
The Wendy Williams Show will run through the end of its current season, Deadline reports, with a rotating slate of guest hosts, including Sherri Shepherd, before Sherri takes over the time slot in syndication this fall. While this is certainly upsetting news for Wendy Williams, who is reportedly “on the mend,” Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury, the producer-distributor of The Wendy Williams Show, left the door open for Williams’ possible return if and when she is able and willing to do so.
In a statement, Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein said:
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. 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.
This news comes just days after Wendy Williams addressed her fans via a video posted to her new Instagram account — the first update from Williams herself in more than six months — in which she was seemingly looking to dispute the troublesome claims that have been made about her health. In the video, shot on a windy Florida beach by her son Kevin, Williams talks about coming back “stronger” and said she was looking forward to returning to New York, where her show is filmed.
Excuse me, I am going back stronger. At 56 years old, there are things that happen to people. … I would say things usually start about 40 and they go up from there, you know? So you've got to eat the right food. … I want to be all I can be and get back to New York and get on down with The Wendy Williams Show.
It really sounded like Wendy Williams was focused on getting back to her show, and I can only imagine that this news must have been pretty hard for her to hear. It’s unclear exactly when the video in question was taken, as the host states her age at 56 (she turned 57 last July) and she refers to her mother in the present tense (her mother died in late 2020), but a publicist told Page Six the video was taken February 16, and that Williams was referring to her mother being buried in Florida. You can see the full 5-minute video below:
Wendy Williams herself has been off of the air since July 2021, with the current season of The Wendy Williams Show being fronted by a series of guest hosts. Last month, a new report claimed that not only was Williams’ “spark” gone, but that she was having trouble dressing and eating on her own. This same report also claimed that she had been “having a hard time holding a conversation” and was frequently unable to recognize people she’d known for quite some time. Williams also recently took legal action against her bank, Wells Fargo, for denying her access to her financial accounts, including information about them.
This is disappointing news for Wendy Williams and fans of her as a brutally honest, unpredictable talk show host. Hopefully she will continue to get healthy and we will see her on TV again one day. While waiting to see how things shake out, check out our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what else is on the way.
