After taking two months off to tend to illness and injury, Wendy Williams will return to her eponymous talk show on Monday, March 4, Lionsgate-owned Debmar-Mercury, which produces and distributes the show, said Thursday.
“Wendy Williams is an incredible talent with the most unique voice in daytime. We can’t wait to welcome her back to her iconic purple chair on the set of her show on Monday, March 4,” the company said in a statement.
“We so appreciate all of the guest hosts and panelists who filled in for Wendy during this time. These people are, and always will be, true family to the show. We want to thank all of the loyal and supportive fans who have been with us for 10 years now. And of course, we thank our station and business partners, who stepped up in such a supportive way.”
Williams suffered a hairline fracture to her shoulder in December, and also was struggling with complications from Grave’s disease. Rumors also have been swirling about difficulties in her marriage with husband and manager Kevin Hunter. She initially returned to the show in January right after a planned holiday hiatus but found she needed to take a break to deal with her medical issues.
During her time off, the show was hosted by guest panelists, including Jason Biggs, Michael Rapaport, Keke Palmer and Jerry O’Connell. In the week ended Feb. 10, Nick Cannon hosted for three days, driving an 8% improvement to a 1.3 live plus same day household rating, according to Nielsen. Wendy Williams was the only talk show out of 14 on the air that improved that week. During his time on the show, Cannon gave fans updates on the host’s health and well-being.
For her part, Williams said, “Salute to Debmar-Mercury for believing from the start and thanks to my staff for tirelessly holding it down for me.”
