Wendy Williams Reveals She’s Been ‘Living in a Sober House’ Due To Past ‘Struggle With Cocaine’
Wendy Williams has been refocusing on her sobriety in secret, the daytime TV host revealed during her show on Tuesday.
Williams, 54, shared with Wendy Williams Show viewers that she's "been living in a sober house." She previously struggled with cocaine, she said in a candid moment on the typically light-hearted show. Williams told fans she never sought treatment for her drug use before, and felt it was time to get some help. The gossip show host said on Tuesday that husband Kevin Hunter was the only person who knew she was going to treatment.
"I have been living in a sober house. ... You know I've had a struggle with cocaine in the past," she said on the show. "I never went to a place to get treatment ... there are people in your family, it might be you ... I want you to know more of the story," Williams revealed.
She went on to say, "Only Kevin knows about this. Not my parents, nobody. Nobody knew because I look so glamorous out here. I am driven by my 24-hour sober coach back to a home that I live in the tri-state with a bunch of smelly boys who have become my family."
Williams shared a few details about the facility, sharing with fans that it's "doors locked by 10 p.m. lights out by 10 p.m., so I go to my room and stare at the ceiling and fall asleep to come here and see you." She called the revelation her "truth."
Until March 4, Williams had been absent from her daytime talk show since January. She attributed the break from the show to a fractured shoulder, according to People, and her on-going battle with Grave's disease. She has been open about her drug use in the past, telling People that she was addicted to cocaine for roughly 10 years at the start of her career.
"Drugs were a demon I had to overcome," she said in 2014.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight about her addiction, Williams said she "was a functioning addict." She claimed she would always "report to work on time," adding that her bosses knew she was struggling, but weren't overly worried. Williams said she "was making ratings," so she wouldn't be fired.
"I was a functioning addict," she said. "I report to work on time, and I'd walk in and all my co-workers, including my bosses, would know but since I would have my headphones on and walk in the studio and [they] wouldn't fire me because I was making ratings."
Williams added, "A functioning addict has several alarm clocks, you're organized. It's a miracle I was able to stop."
She did not provide any information about when she intended to leave the facility.