In the latest issue of PEOPLE magazine, Wendy Williams celebrates turning the big 5-0.
She also takes time to reflect on her career and past life choices which ultimately led her to discover her personal ‘road to happiness’.
It was during that reflection that Wendy spoke candidly about her childhood and ‘fat shaming’ — which ultimately contributed to her early battle with drug use and plastic surgery.
via Daily Mail:
The New Jersey resident said she first realized she was bigger than most kids when her family brought up her size.
‘In the seventies I guess that is what they called “love,”‘ she joked.
‘When I look back I was a little fluffy, but I wasn’t fat,’ she added.
The former radio star said a focus on her body led to a taste for cocaine when she was still an undergrad.
‘I didn’t consider it a problem,’ she offered, ‘mainly because I had no money to fuel the habit.’
When she landed a big radio show on New York City’s WRKS in 1989, she was handed a nice salary that could help her buy as much as she wanted.
‘I was making $60,000 a year, and at $35 a gram, cocaine was cheap,’ she said.
It wasn’t until she met her future husband Kevin Hunter that she slowed down. ‘I decided to step back and take an assessment of my life,’ she said.
She’s now 15 years clean and enjoying life with her 13-year-old son Kevin Jr, as well as her husband, in New Jersey.
But before having her first child, two miscarriages caused her to not take care of herself.
‘I gained 103 pounds,’ she said.
After giving birth to her son, she had a ‘mommy makeover’ that included a tummy tuck. ‘It was a kickoff to a new way of life.’
The popular daytime fixture – her Wendy Williams Show draws two million viewers – is careful with her health these days because she has both a Thyroid disorder and Graves’ disease.
‘That’s why I wear wigs,’ she said.
But Wendy is grateful.
‘I’ve corrected just about everything that bothered the hell out of me in my twenties, thirties and forties,’ the outspoken star said.
‘I have to say, this is not how I thought things would turn out. I’m sober, I’ve got my Kevins, my parents are still around to see my success.’
The personality then added, ‘I knew life would turn out OK, but I didn’t think it’d turn out great.’
Wendy’s come a long way and her career is stacked full of accomplishments. You can read the rest of Wendy’s story in the latest issue of People magazine.
