‘Blue Bloods’: Wendy Williams’ Infamous Collapse Might Have Inspired an Upcoming Episode

When Blue Bloods returns from its winter break later this month, Detectives Danny Reagan and Maria Baez will be investigating a showbusiness crime that appears to be loosely inspired by a real event. The police will investigate the murder of a television host who collapsed in the middle of a taping. This might remind viewers of Wendy Williams‘ shocking 2017 moment when she fainted on live television.

Blue Bloods‘ first episode after the winter break is “Allegiance,” which airs on Friday, Feb. 25. The main attraction of the episode is a guest star appearance from Tony Danza, who plays a police officer whose son is involved in gang activity, reports TVLine. He will be prominently featured in the story involving Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck). Joe Hill (Will Hochman) also returns to ask Erin (Bridget Moynahan) and Anthony (Steve Schirripa) for help after his date tampers with a witness. Eddie (Vanessa Ray) helps the SVU solve a crime.

In their story, Baez (Marisa Ramirez) is shocked to see her favorite TV personality faint on live television. Baez and Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) interview the host’s inner circle to find out who could be responsible for the host’s death. Considering that we’ve seen Danny investigate crimes involving his idols, it’s about time Baez gets to do the same. It’s just unfortunate for her that the case involves a murder.

Of course, in the real story that may have inspired this, no one died thankfully. During Williams’ 2017 Halloween episode, the beloved host appeared to lose her footing and slipped before suddenly fainting. At first, the Wendy Williams Show host’s publicist said she was “dehydrated” and was “on her way home for a good day and night of sleep” after the show.

The next day, Williams was back on air and said her Statue of Liberty costume was getting too hot. “I’m a 53-year-old middle-aged woman going through what middle-aged women go through, if you know what I mean,” Williams said on her show. “The costume got hot. All [of a] sudden right before passing out, I felt like I was in the middle of a campfire.”

Today, Williams is missing from her eponymous talk show. She hasn’t hosted an episode since the end of the 2020-2021 season due to ongoing health concerns. Producers repeatedly delayed the start of her 2021-2022 season until they began hiring rotating guest hosts. On Tuesday, sources told TMZ that former The View co-host Sherri Shepherd is being considered for the role of “permanent guest host.” The door will reportedly be open for Williams’ return if she gets better, but if she cannot, sources told TMZ the name of the show could be changed by September, when The Wendy Williams Show Season 15 would start.

Blue Bloods airs on CBS Fridays at 10 p.m. ET. You can catch every past episode on Paramount+.