Wendy Williams, who was recently featured in Lifetime documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, has not returned to The Wendy Williams show as planned.
The series has been on reruns for about two weeks and this led to speculation that the Wendy Williams show has been cancelled. The new season is set to premiere on January 14 but Wendy Williams will be absent.
Variety exclusively reports that a panel of Hot Talkers will replace Wendy for the first episode.
The host will return the following week on January 21, according to the series producer Debmar-Mercury.
Wendy Williams reportedly missed filming due to fracturing her shoulder, which was revealed on an Instagram caption on the show’s official page.
Williams explained via a statement that her ‘odd’ behavior during filming in mid-December was due to the pain medication for her shoulder injury.
In a statement Wendy revealed that she had, ‘a hairline fracture on my upper arm, which hurts like hell,’ also claiming to have never broken a bone in her life prior to the shoulder fracture.
Some fans had blamed the delay of her return on rumors surrounding Wendy Williams’ husband Kevin Hunter reportedly cheating on her with a mistress.
There have also been rumors about Wendy Williams’ health since she fainted during a live set.
However, there is no suggestion any of these rumors are true and the 53-year-old TV show host claimed that she passed out due to getting hot in the costume she was wearing when the incident occurred.
The Wendy Williams Show has over 1,500 episodes over 10 seasons. The series has not been cancelled and was renewed through to 2019-20 season.