After 14 amazing seasons, The Wendy Williams show is officially coming to an end.
The announcement was made by Debmar-Mercury, the show’s distributor. They also announced that Wiliams’ time slot will be occupied by Sherri Shepard’s new show premiering in the Fall.
Shepard has hosted a few shows since Williams has been on hiatus due to her health scare. Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus explained their decision in a statement.
This is also a bitter-sweet moment for us and our partners at Fox. We all have a great love and affinity for Wendy, who grew into a true icon during her 12 incredible seasons as the solo host of a live, daily talk show dishing on ‘Hot Topics’ and interviewing celebrities,” the statement read.
It goes on to say, “Since Wendy is still not available to host the show as she continues on her road to recovery, we believe it is best for our fans, stations, and advertising partners to start making this transition now. We hope to be able to work with Wendy again in the future, and continue to wish her a speedy and full recovery.”
They also spoke on Shepard’s new role. “Sherri is a natural who proved her hosting skills for many years as a panelist on ‘The View’, on Fox’s Dish Nation, and again this season as a popular guest host of Wendy. Like our viewers, we have been impressed by the unique comedic twist Sherri puts on our daily live ‘Hot Topics’ segment, her creativity, and interactions with our guests. Her love for the content and daytime fans is obvious, and we are excited to partner with her to create another long-term talk franchise.”
Thoughts on this?