Andy Cohen Claims Wendy Williams Wanted To Join Housewives

Wendy Williams, apparently had her heart set on holding a Housewife apple after laying down her mic, but was ultimately rejected by Bravo exec Andy Cohen.

Source: Daniel Zuchnik / Getty

OK Magazine reports that the producer revealed in his new book, The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up, that Wendy Williams allegedly pitched herself to “zip it and zoo it” as part of the cast of the Real Housewives of New York City but “the conversation didn’t go anywhere.”

The Watch What Happens Live host claims he would have been all for Wendy’s addition, but the timing was off writing, “Had this call come a year earlier, it would’ve been a brilliant idea.”

The passage dated May 2022 continued,

“If she [Williams] is struggling with mental health issues, though, this isn’t the time. Her enthusiasm was infectious, though when I was explaining the idea of Legacy and the brand-new show, she just wanted to focus on the last version. So the conversation didn’t go anywhere,” adds OK.

This is a shocking revelation considering “the queen of all media” expressed in the past that she would never join the reality franchise. “No, I won’t be a member of The Real Housewives of New York City,” Williams told her studio audience on the July 2019 episode of The Wendy Williams Show, according to Okay Magazine. 

“First off, you’re not coming to my apartment. You’re not checking out who I date. There would be so many no no nos that you would be bored with me,” she stated about keeping her private life intact.

Although it would have made for captivating reality TV, Williams exposing the ups and downs in her personal life might have been just too daunting.

Source: Daniel Zuchnik / Getty

As previously reported, she filed for divorce from her husband Kevin Hunter of nearly 20 years citing irreconcilable differences after he produced a daughter out of wedlock.

In Sept. 2022, the 58-year-old entered a mental health facility to “manage her overall health issues”, her representative, Shaw Zanotti, shared in a statement. During that time, she tested positive for COVID-19 amid her battle with Graves disease and later recovered from the virus but continued to battle thyroid and lymphedema complications.

To top off her woes, in May of the same year, Wells Fargo froze her funds, labeling her an “incapacitated person” and “the victim of undue influence and financial exploitation.”

The media vet denied the claims she was debilitated and vowed to return to her eponymous talk show “better and brighter“, although comedian and actress Sherri Shepherd was already named her Wendy Williams Show replacement — the show was later renamed SHERRI.

Shepherd recently garnered a Daytime Emmy nomination for her work on the program.

Overzealous producers are known to coherence talent with complicated lives into joining their shows but Andy chose not to exploit the disk jockey amid reports of her mental breakdown and a lack of true friends to support her.

“Wendy does not have many real friends, but the few that are coming around are causing some concern for the people that do truly care about her,” an insider shared with OK Magazine. “The real concern is when she has people over [to] her house. She has jewelry and designer purses laying around,” the source continued. “Wendy is not in the best state of mind so unfortunately people will take advantage of that.”

Wendy joining the Real Housewives of New York City would have been reality TV gold for sure, but it sounds like Cohen thought it would be just too risky for the host’s health.

That’s called being a friend. How you doinnnn’?