Another week has gone by and Wendy Williams is still not going to return to host her daytime talk show as planned. And while the TV veteran continues to take time off, her husband is said to be scolding her staff for leaking details about his alleged affair.
Williams has been exhibiting signs of ill health the past few weeks. After going public about her Graves’ disease battle last year, the host also showed up with a fractured arm on-air in December. Toward the end of the month, Williams announced she’d be taking time off to recuperate from her injury, but she was expected to come back on “The Wendy Williams Show” Monday, Jan. 14.
However, Variety reported Thursday that Williams is set to sit out her show for another week instead. The heads of Debmar-Mercury, which produces and distributes the show, issue a statement.
“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. “Wendy has our complete and unwavering support and we look forward to her return to the iconic purple chair.”
Williams will now come back to her show on Monday, Jan. 21, and a panel of “Hot Takers” will take over for her next week. The exact panelists will be disclosed Jan. 14.
As the host’s hiatus wears on, Radar Online reported that her husband, Kevin Hunter, visited the set to chat with staff on Jan. 7. But rather than getting an update on his wife’s health, they got a talking-to.
“Kevin sat down the entire ‘Wendy’ staff on Monday morning,” an insider disclosed to the website Tuesday. “Everyone thought Kevin was going to provide an update on Wendy’s health, but instead Kevin ranted for almost an hour about the leaks coming out of the show to the press.”
Some of those leaks include a report saying Hunter put the New Jersey home he shared with his alleged decade-long mistress up for sale in November. Before the close of 2018, records obtained by Radar Online revealed Hunter also sold a New Jersey condo he’s said to have occupied with Sharina Hudson. Additionally, a story ran on Love B. Scott stating Hudson is reportedly pregnant with Hunter’s baby. Williams’ representatives sent the website a cease-and-desist letter denying the claim.
Apparently, Hunter read “specific articles and headlines” in an “intimidating voice” to the show staff. The Radar source said, “he was overly paranoid about any info about their private life leaking.”
“The strange part was he provided no update on Wendy’s health, when she would be back or how she was feeling, which was clearly info that everyone at the show needs to do their jobs,” the insider said. “He was threatening that whomever was the source would be caught.”
In order to discover the mole, Hunter allegedly began “testing the staff by leaking out information to certain people to see if he can catch someone.”
As for his ongoing cheating allegations, Williams has repeatedly assured fans that she and her husband are just fine.