'Wendy Williams Show' Replacement Revealed, Show Could Be Renamed
The Wendy Williams Show may have found a new permanent host in The View and 30 Rock alum Sherri Shepherd. Shepherd has been filling in for Williams a lot this season, and on Tuesday TMZ reported that Shepherd will take over the show full time in the fall. The show may even be renamed to reflect this change.
Shepherd hosted The Wendy Williams Show for the first time back in November while Williams was out recovering from health issues. TMZ reported that Shepherd would be the show's "permanent guest host," and that the show's title was "in flux" for now. Meanwhile, sources close to the production told Deadline that Shepherd is close to striking a deal to take over Williams' show, and the show would most likely be renamed. So far, the show and its producers have not issued a public comment on these reports.
Williams has needed time of from the show to take care of health issues several times since 2017, and guest hosts have become a regular part of the show's operation. Williams suffers from Graves' disease, which is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. She has also had a few nagging injuries, and fans often speculate that Williams is taking time off to deal with her addiction and ensure she doesn't have a relapse.
Shepherd first guest-hosted the show in 2019, along with a rotating cast of other guest hosts including Jerry O'Connell, Nick Cannon, Keke Palmer and Michael Rapaport. Both she and Rapaport returned again in October of 2021, taking turns with others like Leah Remini, Michelle Visage, Whitney Cummings, Michelle Buteau and Bill Bellamy.
Insiders told Deadline that Shepherd and Rapaport were the two frontrunners in consideration to replace Williams for good. Rapaport has become active in the genre of talk show podcasts, including his own I Am Rapaport Stereo Podcast.
Shepherd, meanwhile, has even more experience in the genre thanks to her stint on The View from 2007 to 2014, and she has made many guest appearances since then. She is also very familiar to the daytime talk show crowd from her numerous appearances on The Talk, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Good Morning America and so on. Shepherd has appeared on many of the most beloved sitcoms of the last few decades – most notably 30 Rock where she played Tracy's wife, Angie Jordan – and even starred in her own sitcom, Sherri in 2009.
Right now, Williams is still absent from her show and the lineup of guest hosts is changing rapidly. New episodes of the show have not aired yet in 2022.