She’s big, she’s loud and she’s messy and Wendy Williams wouldn’t have it any other way.
The host of The Wendy Williams Show which launched in 2009, has a larger than life personality with great timing. After Oprah Winfrey announced that after 25 years on the air, she was going to end her daily show, many are now convinced Williams is the new queen of daytime TV.
Williams, who spent 23 years as a radio D.J. was one of the nation’s top shock jocks who gained fame and millions of followers with her in-your-face questions and on-air spats with celebrities. The one that gained notoriety attention (good and bad) was her 2003 on-air explosive argument with Whitney Houston over the singer’s rumored drug use. It was a riveting and sadly prophetic interview.
Nine years later Houston died of accidental drowning, but the toxicology report showed cocaine and other substances were found in her system. The news hit Williams hard, she broke down crying on her national TV show and made an emotional confession that she too used drugs, “I’m not proud of the girl that I was, but I wouldn’t be the woman that I am today “ she told her audience.
The deep-voiced – often bawdy – and always sassy Williams, has made a name for herself for sharing intimate secrets. Besides her admitted drug use, she’s told her fans she’s had breast implants, cosmetic surgery, miscarriages and a somewhat complicated love life.
“If I can out myself, in terms of some other things that I've been through in life, the good and the bad, then that (prevents) having some two-faced friend do it, or sources calling a magazine.”
Williams is the author of two New York Times best sellers including, “Wendy’s Got the Heat” and “The Wendy Williams Experience” novels and now her newest book “Ask Wendy.”
“Out of all the books that I've written, “Ask Wendy,” is probably my favorite. People wrote me from all around the country. They gave me their toughest questions. I can tell you, they're sexy, they're seedy, they're saucy and they're crazy.”
Questions include things about online dating, bedroom drama, and what she called workplace drama. “I don't believe in love or friendships in the workplace. There's no room for love because it usually ends badly. And there's no room for friendships…. You can't call your ‘bestie’ the person in the next cubicle. It just doesn't work. “
What does work for Williams is working with her second husband, Kevin Hunter. The two have been married for 15 years. He’s her manager, business partner and shares Executive Producer title on her show pointing out, “in these shark-infested waters of entertainment you don't know who to trust and who not to trust.”
Fans know that due to a thyroid disease she wears wigs every day. She says she’s turned lemons into lemonade - and a new business; a line of wigs and hair products called, “Wendy Williams Hair World.” She also had a popular QVC jewelry line called “Adorn” and she and her husband have forged a new production company.
But she said she doesn’t have it all - and doesn’t think other women can either. “I don't think that woman can have it all. There, I said it. Millions of women right now are upset with me, but I don't think we can have it all.”
Wendy lives larger than life - she sports a massive seven carat ring that befits her 5’11” frame.
“In the beginning of my life, my height was the thing that I hated the most. Now, I find my height my biggest physical attribute because I'm the first one that you see when (you) walk into the room.”
And she’s hard to ignore. In 2011, she appeared on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” (she was voted off in the second round) and on June 25, 2013 she’ll make her Broadway debut appearing in “Chicago” playing Matron “Mama” Morton a role Queen Latifah played in the film version. Big shoes to fill, but as Williams shrugged and said, “I'm not scared to try new things in front of millions of people. But I want to try.”
So for the woman who starts off her show with her signature “How you doin'” - she’s doing just fine, thank you very much. “I don't know what makes me special .… if I think about it too long, I'll ruin the mojo.”