The Wendy Williams Show is still without its host! The show, which has been in reruns since December 24, will resume new episodes on Monday, January 14, but host Wendy Williams will not return until Monday, January 21, Us Weekly can confirm.
The official show Instagram account posted on January 5 that Williams, 54, would be returning on the 14th. “After fracturing her shoulder, Wendy is on the mend and wants to return pain-free and be 200%, delivering the best show that millions of viewers tune-in to watch,” the post read.
However, when the show returns, it will be run by a panel of “Hot Talkers” for a week, Variety reports. “As she has for the past 10 years, Wendy delivers an incomparable live talk show day in and day out and we want to give her the best opportunity to heal and recover,” Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein said in a statement. “Wendy has our complete and unwavering support and we look forward to her return to the iconic purple chair.”
Following an upper-arm injury, the Ask Wendy author missed her December 17 show but then returned the following day and finished her week. On December 20, she was criticized for slurring her words through the episode.
“I sincerely apologize if you feel that today’s show was less than stellar. I’m on your TV screens every day wanting to spread laughter, entertainment and cheer. As I reported earlier in the week, I have a hairline fracture on my upper arm, which hurts like hell,” she wrote on Instagram after the broadcast. “I’ve never broken a bone or experienced a fracture in my life. In the key place where the fracture is, and trying to scurry around and do too much, I am now paying the price. I’ve never taken a pain medication in my life (except when I got snatched over 20 years ago) until this week.”
The talk show then had a planned hiatus for a week, which was extended a second week so that she could fully heal. When Williams officially heads back to set, it will be her first show in a month.