Wendy Williams.Photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic
Wendy Williamsis officially ending her talk show after nearly 14 years, PEOPLE has confirmed.
“The final original episode ofThe Wendy Williams Showwill air on Friday, June 17th, with a video tribute to the iconic host,” a spokesperson for the show told PEOPLE told after first exclusively sharing the news withVariety. “The series comes to an end after 13 successful years in syndication.”
Williams, 57, has been fighting for her health for quite some time, which has impacted the workflow of her eponymous talk show.
A sourcetold PEOPLEin February: “Wendy won’t be returning to the show for the rest of this season” — though one month later, WilliamtoldGood Morning Americaabout her plan to return.
“I’m going to be back on theWendyshow,” she said in March. “Bigger and brighter than ever.”
In October 2021 ahead of the talk show’s 13th season premiere, Williams’breakthrough COVID-19 caseand her ongoing health issues tied to Graves' disease delayed its initial return. The premiere episode wasdelayed once more to Oct. 18despite Williams' recovery from COVID-19.
“Her healing is going slower than everyone had hoped. She continues to deal with a number of medical issues, including Graves' disease, and she and her team are taking it one day at a time,” the source said.
A former New York radio DJ and “shock jockette”, she’s been known to bush some buttons with her segment Hot Topics. In recent years, she’s made controversial statements aboutDionne Warwick,Joaquin PhoenixandMeghan Markle.
Williams previouslywent on hiatus from the showin March 2018 and again in May 2020, due to complications with her Graves' disease and hyperthyroidism.
“It came from me neglecting my six month endocrinology appointment,” she told PEOPLE in 2018. “I have Graves' disease and hyperthyroid. If you have one you don’t necessarily have to have the other, but I have both, and I was diagnosed with both 19 years ago.”
She also took a six-week break in early 2019, after fracturing her shoulder. She later revealed that she was quietlyfocusing on her sobrietyduring the leave of absence. A few weeks later, she filed for divorce from husband of 22 years Kevin Hunter, amid rumors he’d fathered a child with another woman.
A spokesperson for the show confirmed to PEOPLE at the time that she hadremoved her then-husband as an executive producer, shortly after filing for divorce. He held the title since the show premiered 13 years ago, and they shared her companyWendy WilliamsProductions.
Wendy Williams Show
Williams' show was one of the first to return to production in September 2020, after Hollywood went into lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
source: people.com
