Wendy Williams, 55, is looking forward to getting back inside the Wendy Williams Show‘s New York studio and film in front of a packed enthusiastic audience and hopes quarantine rules will change soon so that can happen. The talk show host, who initially filmed the show from home after stay-at-home orders were put into place, has been on a break from filming in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic but she’s been keeping her fans up to date with how she’s doing in regular posts on social media. In them, she’s expressed her desire to return to her gig outside the home more than once.
“Wendy loves the feel of a live audience, loves being close to an audience as working from home brought her back to her radio days which were great but she is all about being out there with her audience and telling it like it is, there is something about the live TV medium that she thrives in and she can’t wait to return as soon as possible,” a source EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife. “She needs the show in her life, it is really a driving force in everything she does.”
On June 12, Wendy shared an Instagram photo of herself smiling while sitting in front of a table and in the caption, she gave a shout-out to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo while expressing her hopes to get out soon. “He makes me laugh, pays for lunch & we have good times in our city! Happy Friday! Hurry up Gov. Cuomo, I’m ready for our studio show!” the caption read.
Despite Wendy’s enthusiasm about returning, New York is still being cautious about reopening the state and have no concrete date on when it will happen so the popular show is at a standstill. “At this moment, there aren’t any confirmed plans since New York City is still figuring out many details to put in place as to what they would be able to do when the show goes back in the studio for production,” a second source EXCLUSIVELY revealed. “It would definitely involve some social distancing and likely the audience and crew will be wearing masks and also would even have temperatures taken beforehand.”
“They’re not sure if they’re even going to be able to go back anytime soon but if they are and do they want to be completely ready,” the source continued. “If things get pushed back too far, then Wendy would consider home shows as a last resort to return to, so it’s all a little up in the air right now. As for signing any waivers, if somebody tested positive for the virus, there really would be no way to say for sure they contracted it while in the studio so those discussions are being made right now as well.”
No matter when the show comes back with an audience, the production team will make sure they’re very careful at all times. “They plan to take every precaution to ensure the safety of Wendy, the audience, the crew and wouldn’t even consider going back until they were sure all safety plans were in place,” the source concluded.
A spokesperson for the Wendy Williams Show told HollywoodLife, “The goal is to be back in studio as soon as we are allowed. If that is delayed until later in the year, we may revisit the at home shows.”