Wendy Williams opened up about her struggles with cocaine abuse in a segment on Tuesday’s “Wendy Williams Show”. The daytime talk Diva stunned viewers with her tearful admission about her history of drug abuse.
Williams, 54, told the shocked audience about her struggles with drugs and alcohol. She admitted she was living in a sober house, and that the excuses her rep gave about her thyroid issues were just to cover up for her substance abuse.
She has said she was a “functioning addict” who would party all night during her heady days as New York’s most popular female radio host.
“So you know me for being a very open and truthful person,” Williams said.
Williams broke down and cried before noting that her family foundation had just launched a substance abuse hotline. “Well, for some time now, and even today and beyond, I have been living in a sober house.”
She revealed she still has a 24-hour sober coach on call. She did not specify whether she was being treated for cocaine addiction. She explained that after taping her show, she does Pilates for two hours to curb the urges to use drugs. She also attends “several meetings” around the Tri-state area.
She said the other substance abusers at the sober house didn’t recognize her.
“And I see my brothers and sisters caught up in their addiction an looking for help,” she said. “They don’t know I’m Wendy, they don’t care I’m Wendy, there’s no autographs, there’s no nothing. It’s the brothers and sisters caught up in the struggle and it’s been really interesting, this ride.”
Williams said her husband, Kevin Hunter, and son, Kevin Jr. have been supportive about her treatment, but she didn’t tell the rest of her family.
“Not my parents, nobody. Nobody knew,” she said before breaking into a smile: “Because I look so glamorous out here.”
She described her prison-like conditions at the sober house, where she lived during tapings of her show.
“Doors locked by 10 p.m., lights out by 10 p.m. So I go to my room and I stare at my ceiling and I fall asleep to wake up to come back here to see you,” she said. “So that is my truth.”
In December, Williams showed up on set wearing her right arm in a sling. She never explained what caused her injury, but she apologized for her “less than stellar” show, and she promised to return as a new woman after the winter break.
“I promise you a better Wendy in 2019,” she said in a post on Instagram.com. “I will get some much needed rest and healing over these next couple of weeks.”
Wendy frustrated her viewers by pushing back her return date multiple times. She finally made her 2019 debut in March.
Photos by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images, Robin Marchant/Getty Images, BlayzenPhotos / BACKGRID
