Wendy Williams’ health has been a topic of conversation for years now, and fans have become increasingly concerned the more the talk show legend has withdrawn from the public eye. “What happened to Wendy Williams?” has been one of the most asked questions these past few years. Now, her medical team confirms Wendy has been diagnosed with dementia and progressive aphasia.
The radio and tv personality, who mastered both in her career, has been openly fighting for her health for years. During her 12-year run as the host of “The Wendy Williams Show,” she revealed her battle with Graves disease, lymphedema, and often discussed how she overcame drug & alcohol addiction.
The 59-year-old’s sister, Wanda, said just this week about Wendy’s addiction issues:
“There were points during the past year when everyone in this family wondered whether that call [that she was dead] was going to come in the middle of the night,” Wendy’s sister, Wanda, 65, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s cover story. “Everybody in this family sat on pins and needles every single night with their cell phones right next to the bed.”
But in the last few years of the show’s run, fans became concerned with her on-air memory lapses, erratic behavior and even her fainting on live TV in 2019.
While people often to explain away much of the behavior as stress induced due to her wild divorce from husbandger Kevin Hunter, it became clear severe health issues were also to blame. But it seems alcoholism, according to her sister Wanda, was also to blame.
During Williams’ visits to her family in Florida, Wanda says they kept a strict “anti-alcohol” policy, so she “started to push everybody away,” including her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., 23.
“Wendy is right when she says, ‘Wanda doesn’t want me to drink,’” Wanda says. “It wasn’t so much, ‘I don’t want you to drink because drinking is bad,’ but drinking for you is not good.”
For a long time, sources say Williams struggled with drinking behind the scenes of The Wendy Williams Show, which she first started hosting in 2008. “She would be drunk on air,” says a show source. “Slowly, we started being like, ‘What’s going on with her?’”
Now, Wendy Williams’ medical team has issued a statement on her health, which they hope will stop the “gossip” surrounding her well-being. She has been diagnosed with aphasia, which Bruce Willis was also recently diagnosed with, and dementia.
The statement reads, “In 2023, after undergoing a battery of medical tests, Wendy was officially diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).”
The team also confirms they were hired by Wendy herself saying, “Wendy would not have received confirmation of these diagnoses were it not for the diligence of her current care team, who she chose, and the extraordinary work of the specialists at Weill Cornell Medicine.”
They added, “Receiving a diagnosis has enabled Wendy to receive the medical care she requires.
The statement wraps up, “Wendy is still able to do many things for herself. Most importantly she maintains her trademark sense of humor and is receiving the care she requires to make sure she is protected and that her needs are addressed. She is appreciative of the many kind thoughts and good wishes being sent her way.”
Wendy’s health and behavior has been a MAJOR topic of gossip not only with fans, but with her own family members and ex-husband sometimes stirring the pot.
Her brother has often gone on Live to call out Wendy for putting on a front. He specifically called out Wendy about her relationship with their parents, and accusing her of not even showing up when their mother – whom she as really close to and often appeared on “Wendy” – passed away.
Her son, Kevin Jr., has been in the headlines for allegedly stealing his mother’s money and getting evicted from the Miami apartment she got for him.
Her new Where Is Wendy Williams? documentary trailer has tongues wagging even more as it’s the first time Wendy herself has tackled the gossip and rumors head-on. She lets down the “everything is perfect” guard she’s protected her image with for years.
The timing of this statement on her health isn’t lost on us though. This 2-night documentary premieres on Lifetime this weekend, February 24th and 25th.
Still, the doc appears to be something Wendy felt she needed to do. She originally planned to launch a podcast after her talk show officially ended in 2022, but it evolved into this eye-opening doc instead.
In the trailer, we see her manager and jeweler trying to keep her away from the alcohol bottles while she lashes out at them. We see her show her true self, without the makeup and wigs, in a frail and vulnerable state. We see Wendy like never before. But it’s clear this is what Wendy wanted to do.
Now that Wendy has a diagnosis, we sincerely hope the healing and proper medical services can begin. The legend deserves that.
Photo: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.com
