Top: Wendy with Joan Rivers - Photo: Jason DeCrow Bottom: Wendy with the Rockettes - Photo: Rahav Segev
show and expected it to work. Every good show has got to have gay. Gay is entertaining no matter what. Our obligatory gay person happened to be straight. His name was Shantay and he would do theater of the mind where you hear the door open up and he would say: “Hey everybody” (she imitates a very effeminate voice to capture Shantay acting gay). When a heterosexual guy is so straight he doesn’t even know what he’s doing. So I decided to play along. That’s how, “how you doin’?” was born. It’s my best drag queen voice and I can’t talk like that the whole time but it started off as a drag queen just saying hello to Shantay; and we would have a conversation – me as a regular Jersey girl and him as gay Shantay. It was born in 1998 and I brought it back to New York with me because “how you doin’?” has morphed into a really great way to break up a room and make people understand that I use my powers for good, not evil. When you are a large person and self-assured, people tend to be frightened of you. My famous line breaks up a crowd; lightens people up and then we can get down to business. NYR: What’s your favorite restaurant, place or thing to do in the city? WW: to Serendipity. I also like Victor’s Café for nostalgia. We were just there recently. My husband and I have been married for fourteen
WW: I do. I cook three times a week. Look, I know I sound amazing. I am. Here’s the thing, I’d be kicked out of the girls club if I didn’t. It’s a lot of work and I’ll be perfectly honest with you I cook a homemade meal including a side, a piece of meat and a vegetable at least three times a week. I do it because I like to nurture that family life that I’ve made for myself. I am a housewife who happens to have a career. I love tending to my home. P.S. On a scale of 1 to 10 I’m a 4 or 5 cook. NYR: Working on anything new – any scoops you can give us? WW: I’m working on my Adorn line by Wendy Williams – that’s for QVC. On the show my stylist puts me in colors; off the show I’m a New Yorker and I love wearing black and then you just change your adornments. It’s an accessories line. How you adorn is what separates necklaces. I have my bracelets that I’m introducing; I go back on QVC in May. I’m working on my shoe line, which will be available online, in department stores and boutiques this fall. My husband and I also have a production company and we are looking to take my autobiography and put that on either the big or small screen. We are in the process now of shopping and seeing what kind of production deal we can get.
relationship we were at Victor’s every Friday night. They had no idea who we were; we never made a reservation, but we would go and wait and be patient for a table. After going there for about a month straight – never with friends, always just the two of us – they would give us a booth right away. For the whole time, they thought I was a Broadway girl and I was meeting up with my boyfriend after a show. It’s only been since I’ve been on TV that they’ve realized who I am. Now we go back for sentimental reasons and for consistently good food. I also love Porterhouse in the Time Warner Center. NYR: Do you cook at home? Resident