After 14 seasons, the Wendy Williams Show is officially coming to an end, with a new show Sherri filling the time slot.
Show distributor Debmar-Mercury made the announcement Tuesday morning.
Sherri Shepherd has been a frequent guest host for the show while Wendy Williams focuses on health issues. The transition will happen this fall, providing Sherri her own syndicated show.
“Sherri is a natural who proved her hosting skills for many years as a panelist on The View, on Fox’s Dish Nation and again this season as a popular guest host of Wendy,” said Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein in a statement.
“Like our viewers, we have been impressed by the unique comedic twist Sherri puts on our daily live ‘Hot Topics’ segment, her creativity and interactions with our guests. Her love for the content and daytime fans is obvious, and we are excited to partner with her to create another long-term talk franchise.”
Mort and Ira added, “This is also a bitter-sweet moment for us and our partners at Fox. We all have a great love and affinity for Wendy, who grew into a true icon during her 12 incredible seasons as the solo host of a live, daily talk show dishing on ‘Hot Topics’ and interviewing celebrities. Since Wendy is still not available to host the show as she continues on her road to recovery, we believe it is best for our fans, stations and advertising partners to start making this transition now. We hope to be able to work with Wendy again in the future, and continue to wish her a speedy and full recovery.”
Earlier this month, Wendy endorsed Sherri to take over as permanent guest host on the Wendy Williams’ Show. Once it was revealed that Wendy’s show will be permanently ending, her rep Howard Bragman shared that she understood this move.
“It’s been a challenging time for Wendy as she deals with her health issues. She is incredibly grateful to Debmar-Mercury, to Sherri and everybody else who has supported the show through this time,” Howard said in a statement given to PEOPLE.
“She, more than anyone, understands the reality of syndicated television — you can’t go to the marketplace and sell a show that’s the ‘Maybe Wendy Show,’ ” he continued.
“She understands why this decision was made from a business point of view, and she has been assured by Debmar-Mercury that should her health get to a point where she can host again and should her desire be that she hosts again that she would be back on TV at that time,” her rep concluded.
However, Wendy went to her new Instagram page stated that she did not authorize Howard to release this statement on her behalf.
In response to his client’s remark, Howard tells PEOPLE: “I’m not honestly convinced of the source of that social media post, so when my old friend Wendy FaceTimes me personally and we alone have a chance to discuss recent events, together we can figure out the best path forward,” he wrote.
Sherri made her excitement about the news very clear.
“OMG! I am so excited to have my dream come true and debut my very own talk show Sherri in the fall,” said Sherri. “I can’t wait until I return to NY to host the show and merge everything I love — pop culture, talk, entertainment and comedy. I am thankful to Debmar-Mercury and Fox for partnering with me on this show and look forward to this new journey.”
This is a bittersweet move. Wendy will be extremely missed, but we’re wishing much success to the Sherri Show.
Sherri will premiere in September 2022.
