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Sherri Shepherd is honoring her predecessor, Wendy Williams, shortly after news broke that she will host a new daytime talk show in Williams’ place.
Shepherd, 54, will host her own show, Sherri, this fall, which will fill the time slot of The Wendy Williams Show on FOX. The day after the show’s announcement, Shepherd stopped by Watch What Happens Live, where she told host Andy Cohen what she admired most about Williams, 57.
“She made her own path. What Wendy does, nobody can recreate — none of the guest hosts. That is specific, Wendy created that,” Shepherd said. “The ‘spill the tea,’ and she’d sit there and be like, ‘You know what I’m talkin’ about.’ “
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She added, “So I love that, and I love her fearlessness, and that is something that I want to emulate and keep going. She opened up a lot of doors, and she’s up there with the greats.”
Shepherd, who previously guest-hosted The Wendy Williams Show and co-hosted The View for years, told Cohen, 53, she has always dreamed of having her own talk show.
“I used to be like five years old with like a toilet paper roll [microphone] and all my teddy bears, talking to my teddy bears,” she said.
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Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Williams is ending her namesake talk show after 13 seasons amidst ongoing health struggles. After contracting a breakthrough COVID-19 case and recovering, she continued to experience complications tied to her Graves’ disease, which prevented her from hosting the most recent season of her show.
With Williams unable to host, guests like Leah Remini, Michael Rapaport, Whitney Cummings, Jerry Springer, and Shepherd stepped in to helm episodes in her place. Shepherd emerged as the most popular star to guest host The Wendy Willams Show and brought in season-high ratings when she took over in November.
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Williams’ rep, Howard Bragman, shared a statement with PEOPLE Tuesday after it was announced Williams’ show would be coming to an end. Bragman stated that Williams “understands” why her show would not continue for another season.
“It’s been a challenging time for Wendy as she deals with her health issues. She is incredibly grateful to Debmar-Mercury, to Sherri and everybody else who has supported the show through this time,” Bragman said.
“She, more than anyone, understands the reality of syndicated television — you can’t go to the marketplace and sell a show that’s the ‘Maybe Wendy Show,'” he continued. “She understands why this decision was made from a business point of view, and she has been assured by Debmar-Mercury that should her health get to a point where she can host again and should her desire be that she hosts again that she would be back on TV at that time.”
