Source: Lifetime / lifetime
Wendy Williams is slowly making her return to the public. On Feb. 18, the daytime talk show host appeared to be in good spirits on Instagram where she posted a tribute to her father in honor of his 91st birthday. In one photo, Wendy can be seen smiling as she reaches out to hold her dad’s hand. The second photo in the media maven’s gallery captured her and her dad, whose name is Thomas, according to PEOPLE, chatting and smiling at one another.
“Daddy’s 91st birthday! Enjoying it in the most relaxing way possible,” Williams captioned the heartwarming post.
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The sweet photos were shared on the 57-year-old’s new Instagram account @therealwendywilliamsonline, which she launched earlier this week. Williams made her return to social media on Feb. 17, after a series of troubling health issues. In a five-minute-long video, the former radio host and her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., had a heart to heart while walking along a beach in Florida. The two discussed everything from her daily routine to the death of her mother, Shirley Williams, who passed away in December 2020.
At one point in the video, Kevin, 21, asked the TV icon about why she was “taking a break from everything,” to which she clarified it’s only “a break from New York.”
“New York is fast-paced, which I love,” the Ask Wendy author continued. “I love [it] here in Florida as much as I do New York, but they are two very different things and people. But New York is my heart, and Florida is a beautiful place — beautiful, regular. Sometimes weird in a good way. Aren’t we all, weird in a good way?”
Later on in the clip, Kevin asked his mother to share a few thoughts about the ongoing rumors regarding her mental health state. As MADAMENOIRE previously reported, multiple sources have made claims that the star’s health has been drastically declining due to early-onset dementia and alcohol abuse. A few staffers from The Wendy Williams Show alleged that the shock jock was even wheelchair-bound at one point, but Wendy refuted the allegations in her post on Thursday.
“I am going back stronger. At 56 years old, there are things that happen to people,” Williams said, though she turned 57 in July. “I would say things usually start about 40 and they go up from there, you know?” she continued. “So you’ve got to eat the right food.”
Williams added:
“I want to be all I can be and then get back to New York and get on down to The Wendy Williams Show.”
Some fans speculated whether the video was actually filmed as of recent because Williams kept referencing her mother in the present tense and repeatedly stated that she was 56 years old, despite turning 57 over the summer, but a rep for the star said it was an honest mistake. The video was reportedly filmed on Feb. 16.
As for The Wendy Williams Show, fan-favorite Sherri Shepherd was recently named as the permanent guest host of the series.
“Wendy won’t be returning to the show for the rest of this season,” a source confirmed for PEOPLE, adding, “Her healing is going slower than everyone had hoped. She continues to deal with a number of medical issues, including Graves’ disease, and she and her team are taking it one day at a time.”
Shepherd will officially take over the series regularly beginning September 2022, but the decision is subject to change depending on Williams’ health, Page Six noted.
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