Talk-show host Wendy Williams’ collapse on stage in front of a live audience during the taping of her show today caused her fans to wonder if they were witnessing her having a stroke. The incident was broadcast live on air.
When her fans ask her ‘How you doing’?’ the TV personality’s catchphrase that she and her fans use to greet each other, they expect to hear that she’s fine. But today she wasn’t.
Some followers of The Wendy Williams Show commenting on Twitter thought it was a Halloween prank, it being ‘trick or treat’ day. People were even joking about it saying it didn’t look real. Others who watched the incident unfold were convinced that Williams was having a stroke, or simply something other than what Williams claimed had happened, including a nurse of 25 years who tweeted that she should go to the doctor. One person referred to what she was experiencing as a seizure but Williams was not visible after she fell to the floor so it’s hard to say if she was having convulsions.
“That was not a stunt. I’m overheated in my costume and I did pass out. But you know what, I’m a champ and I’m back,” said Williams, into the camera after a very long commercial break.
Still people on social media were speculating about what really happened. Many people said the incident didn’t look like a fainting spell and were asking if she was okay after she came back to the stage.
Later, @WendyShow posted a video on Instagram in which Williams, looking very pale sitting on a sofa in what seemed like a dressing gown, told viewers that she was home, and not to worry because she was fine now. She posted similar messages on Facebook, adding that she would be doing the show on Wednesday.
A closer look at the video of Williams shows her trying to speak but couldn’t get her words out. Her words were difficult to decipher and then she said “Let’s get started. Our first caress.” She then stopped and pursed her lips before trying to speak again. She had a look of shock on her face and then began to shake. Her eyes opened wide and she put her hand up as if she was trying to keep the crown from her green Statue of Liberty costume on her head. You could hear someone gasping for air in the microphone before Williams fell to the ground and then screams from the audience after she fell.
It was a very vulnerable moment. But, she came back after a double-length commercial segment with the audience clapping wildly as thought they were stalling for time after the first commercial break. Before they went to commercial the first time you could see staff on stage rushing toward her.
The production is usually very smooth on the Wendy Show. This time they took a couple of extra seconds before transitioning to the commercial break. The gap before the commercial and the fact that she looked so scared made her viewers afraid for her wellbeing.
Williams put on a brave face until the end of the show, smiling, trying to dance and interact with her guests and the audience members on stage. She came back to continue the show as if nothing much happened. She was interviewing two audience members with costumes on, on stage. She then said, “Is that the end of the show? Was I passed out that long.”
She didn’t have enough time for the Naked Cowboy, who came out at the end.
by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Twitter @ladycbird | Instagram @cherrylbird
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