The 73-year-old TV personality shares in a new interview that he talked to the 59-year-old former host of 'The Wendy Williams Show' prior to her months-long hiatus amid health issues.
- Mar 2, 2024
AceShowbiz - Dr. Phil hopes the public extends "some grace" to Wendy Williams. The 59-year-old TV star was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2023, and Dr. Phil has now voiced his support for Wendy amid her health battle.
The 73-year-old TV personality, whose real name is Phil McGraw, told "Extra", "I was on her show a half-dozen times. When she stepped back from it, she contacted me and I talked to her off-camera. I got to know one thing about her … I found her to be a very nice, very caring, very sincere person. And so I hope the world just extends her some grace at this point."
Wendy's health issues were publicly revealed in February and her care team admitted at the time that the conditions have "already presented significant hurdles in Wendy's life". The care team said in a statement, "Over the past few years, questions have been raised at times about Wendy's ability to process information and many have speculated about Wendy's condition, particularly when she began to lose words, act erratically at times, and have difficulty understanding financial transactions."
"In 2023, after undergoing a battery of medical tests, Wendy was officially diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. Aphasia, a condition affecting language and communication abilities, and frontotemporal dementia, a progressive disorder impacting behavior and cognitive functions, have already presented significant hurdles in Wendy's life," the team added.
Its statement concluded, "Wendy would not have received confirmation of these diagnoses were it not for the diligence of her current care team, who she chose, and the extraordinary work of the specialists at Weill Cornell Medicine. Receiving a diagnosis has enabled Wendy to receive the medical care she requires."
