Wendy Williams ‘Willing to Risk It’ All to Resume Talk Show

Wendy Williams on Dr. Oz (Credit: CBS Detroit/YouTube)

Waiting out the coronavirus is not working for Wendy Williams.

The daytime diva said Friday on The Dr. Oz Show that she’s tired of sitting at home after being forced to halt production on her syndicated series during the coronavirus crisis.

“I got a telephone call, honestly, and the phone call was, ‘Wendy?’ I was like, ‘What? What am I doing wrong now? I always think I’m in trouble,” Williams explained. “They said, ‘We’re all shutting down everything, all the networks. Nobody is going to be doing new shows. We want all the hosts to be well.’”

Related Story: ‘The Wendy Williams Show’ Shuts Down Production Indefinitely

Williams taped her talk show without a studio audience for a couple of days last week, before announcing on March 12 that production was shutting down “indefinitely.” The host and producer told Dr. Mehmet Oz she wanted to keep working, but was told by TV execs to stay at home.

“I said, ‘But I can do it even with no audience. I don’t even have to have the staffers there because I did that for two days,’” she continued. “But they said, ‘No. We need to have you home, indefinitely.’ There will be no more Wendy or any of the other people for a period of time.’”

Williams said she’s now desperate to get back to work.

“I’m willing to risk it with one camera and a flashlight,” she told Dr. Oz. “I’m ready to go back to work next week. I’m ready to go back to work when we’re like, come on, let’s go!”

The self-proclaimed “queen of media” may actually be onto something. Daily Show host Trevor Noah is taping segments from his sofa and they’re a big hit on YouTube. With the show’s entire staff working from home, Comedy Central has branded the videos “The Daily Social Distancing Show.”

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! staff is posting “Jimmy Kimmel’s Quarantine Minilogue” online, complete with celebrity interviews via the web, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is posting stripped-down versions on YouTube, with NBC branding the videos “The Tonight Show: At Home Edition.”