Jennifer Hudson will be one of the leading stars in a new era of daytime talk shows now that Ellen DeGeneres is ending her long-running show. Hudson will host The Jennifer Hudson Show starting this fall. The show comes from Warner Bros. Television, the same studio behind The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Fox-owned stations have already signed on to air the show, as well as Hearst and other station groups, reports The Hollywood Reporter. When The Jennifer Hudson Show debuts, it will be available in over 60% of the country. Fox stations also picked up Sherri Shepard’s show Sherri, which will replace Lionsgate’s The Wendy Williams Show.
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“I have experienced so much in my life; I’ve seen the highest of the highs, the lowest of the lows, and just about everything in between but as my mother always told me, ‘Once you think you’ve seen it all, just keep on living,” Hudson said in a statement Wednesday. “People from around the world have been a part of my journey from the beginning – twenty years ago – and I’m so ready to join their journey as we sit down and talk about the things that inspire and move us all. I have always loved people and I cannot wait to connect on a deeper level and let audiences see the different sides of who I am, the human being, in return. And I couldn’t be more thrilled to do it alongside this incredible team. We’re about to have a lot of fun and shake things up a little bit!”
Hudson shot to fame as a contestant on American Idol, then won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls. She was recently nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for playing Aretha Franklin in Respect. Hudson also won Grammys for Best R&B Album for Jennifer Hudson and Best Musical Theater Album as a member of The Color Purple cast.
“I knew that Jennifer was a force to be reckoned with from the moment I met her nearly 20 years ago,” Warner Bros. Unscripted Television president Mike Darnell, who was Fox’s unscripted chief when Hudson was on Idol, said. “From her Grammy-winning career in music to her Oscar-winning acting career, Jennifer’s amazing talent, big heart, and authenticity shine through in everything she does. I am thrilled to be working with her in this new role. She’s a natural, and I know audiences will embrace her in their homes every day.”
Hudson is also the second Idol singer to score a daytime talk show. Kelly Clarkson is now in the third season of The Kelly Clarkson Show for NBCUniversal. Clarkson’s show has been renewed through 2023.
This fall will see the start of a new daytime talk show era, as DeGeneres will end her 19-season run in May. DeGeneres once planned to end her show in 2019 but agreed to return for a three-year run. “When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged – and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore,” DeGeneres told THR in May 2021.
