Sherri Shepherd was unable to show up for her stint as guest host on “The Wendy Williams Show” on Monday.
via: People
The TV personality, 54, was previously scheduled to serve as guest host of the syndicated talk show all week, but was replaced by Michael Rapaport on Monday.
“Due to appendicitis, Sherri Shepherd underwent an emergency surgery yesterday,” a rep for Shepherd said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. “The procedure was successful and Ms. Shepherd is doing fine and resting.”
The statement continued, “She is absolutely devastated that she will not be able to guest host The Wendy Williams Show today, but she is following doctors orders and expected to make a full recovery. Thank you all for understanding and respecting her privacy.”
Rapaport, 51, also explained Shepherd’s absence at the start of Monday’s show, telling the audience, “Sherri was supposed to host today, unfortunately, she had appendicitis.”
“She’s fine, she is fine, she had to go to the hospital last night for some emergency surgery,” he said. “She’s feeling fine today and she is resting. Get well soon Sherri, everybody loves you!”
Shepherd thanked Rapaport on Instagram after the show aired, writing, “If you watched the @WendyWilliams show today, you saw the news about my emergency surgery. Thanks to @MichaelRapaport for stepping in for me at the last minute!”
Shepherd has previously guest-hosted episodes of The Wendy Williams Show and is scheduled to be a guest host again in late January, as original host Wendy Williams remains absent due to ongoing health struggles.
Season 13 of the show kicked off on Oct. 18 without Williams, 57, and the premiere, originally set for Sept. 20, was first pushed to Oct. 4 after Williams tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19 amid other health concerns.
When the premiere date was delayed once more to Oct. 18, the show said Williams had recovered from COVID-19 but was still battling other health problems.
A later update revealed that guest hosts would begin taking over the show, as Williams was experiencing “serious complications” due to Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disease that results in an overactive thyroid gland. (Williams previously took an extended hiatus from her show in May 2020 due to the condition.)
A series of stars have appeared in her place since then, including Rapaport, Shepherd, Whitney Cummings, Jerry Springer, Bill Bellamy, Leah Remini as well as Fat Joe and Remy Ma and various panels of guest hosts.
The Wendy Williams Show airs weekdays (check local listings).
We are sending Sherri prayers and love.
