I recently had the opportunity to sit down and have girl talk with Wendy Williams, the self-proclaimed “Queen of All Media.” With Mother’s Day coming up, we thought, “I wonder what Wendy does on Mother’s Day? What is Wendy like as a wife/mother/daughter?” So we decided to ask the shock jock herself! I asked questions like, “How did you meet your husband, Kevin, Sr.” and was surprised to find out that he sent her a note and she initially brushed him off!
We discussed everything from her Mother’s Day tradition to her mole removal (and mine too!), from how it feels to be interviewed to her role as secretary in her family. What does Wendy do on vacation? Does Wendy cook and what are her specialties? What did she do when she found risqué sites in Little Kevin’s internet browser history? We covered it all.
To most who know her syndicated talk shows - on radio and soon again on television- you know that Wendy Williams is as real as real gets. She digs in deep, pushes her guests’ buttons, and asks the questions that everyone wants to know the answers to. On the flip side, she puts it all out there- her size 10 shoes, jiggly arms, wigs and plastic surgery. So you would think that she would be just as comfortable being on the other side of the interview. In fact, not at all. “This is the weirdest part of the whole process,” she said. “I don’t like being interviewed. The only reason I am comfortable now, Debi, is because it’s you, and we are here at WBLS and that feels like home to me.”
But she is looking forward to doing the big TV interviews to promote her new show on Fox, scheduled to air starting July 13th. She wants to go on Jay Leno. “To me, it’s not about the interview. It’s about the walk-out outfit. I am going to go out, flip my wig a little bit, do a little smiling….I can’t walk out like a spaz because the whole Jersey, Brooklyn, NYC contingent will be calling me the next day and they keep it realer than Jay Leno ever could!” We all know that it is the people who are closest to you who can really push those buttons!
Who would have thought that Wendy Williams has a sensitive side? Well, that might be going a little too far. Most wouldn’t call her sensitive. But she certainly is sensible. And having that sensibility is probably why she has taken on the role of “secretary” in her family. She said, “My husband leads and I am the secretary. In the home the secretary is the most important role. I determine what pediatrician will be fired and which will be hired, who is going to repair what. I hire the electrician, and gather the food. I have a full-time live-in person but I make time because I don’t want anyone raising my family. That’s my number one priority and fortunately, my work hours work inside those parameters.” She is so hands-on that she even knows how much the Target brand aluminum foil is right now: $6.69 for 200 yards!
So how does this busy woman who balances writing books, doing radio and television, and managing a household celebrate Mother’s Day? Like all of us, all she wants is a little peace and quiet. But being “too antsy to do day spas,” her only requirement is that she be left alone in the house all day. Until about six o’clock, everyone is out of the house; she reads magazines, watches Lifetime and Bravo, and just lounges around. At around 6, her family calls inside the house (they don’t actually come in!), and she comes out, presenting herself. After her restful day, she and the Kevin’s (Little and Big) can spend a little family time together.
She and Little Kevin get a whole lot of quality time together any other day of the year. In addition to the shopping trips that you hear about on the air, she loves to take him to LegoWorld at the Palisades Mall, to Tyler Perry movies, and to get wings at Pizza Hut. But sometimes they switch it up. She takes him to the Legal Seafood at the Short Hills Mall “because they have tablecloths,” she said. “Kids are never too young to know how to act. He may be in jeans and his Airforce 1s, but he knows not to stick chopsticks up his nose.” They have a little fun and act silly too. One of their favorite pass-times is for Kevin to pull songs up on the internet and for Wendy to sing and dance to them.
Listen to Wendy's Tina Turner
For some, she can be an untraditional mother. In fact, she says that some of the things she and little Kevin talk about, when she was eight, would have been totally inappropriate. This left me wondering how she took her mother’s lessons on motherhood and translated that into her own program for parenting. “My mother taught me to be smart about me as an individual,” she said. “Love your kids. Love your husband. But nothing happens without taking care of yourself.” So true! “She taught me to keep my nails done and my waist tight. She has always kept herself in great physical condition. Even at 75, she still looks great.” Awe!
Hear how Wendy sees the 12-year-old in her mom
On her mother’s advice, Wendy is hitting the gym twice a week to keep that waist tight so she can have the flat stomach she needs for her Jay Leno interview! And how does it feel to be in the midst of a new television show, a book coming out soon, and her continuing work on radio? “I feel the best I have in my life!”
Listen to Wendy speak on her new book
Why did Wendy say, “I need someone to turn [it] on and turn it off. But while it’s on, I get it on!” Want to know about the 200 moles Wendy had removed? Little Kevin’s browser history and what Wendy did when she saw cocosworld.com in it? Wendy’s tips on keeping food fresh longer in a recession? What her cooking specialties are? If you would like to hear the entire interview with the undisputed Queen of Radio, click here to listen to the podcasts of my Wendy interview.
E-Mail
