Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia as well as aphasia, her team announced Thursday morning.
“As Wendy’s fans are aware, in the past she has been open with the public about her medical struggles with Graves’ Disease and Lymphedema as well as other significant challenges related to her health.”
The press release explained that the former “Wendy Williams Show” host, 59, underwent a battery of tests in 2023 after her memory started to fail and she began to “lose words” and “act erratically.”
Doctors concluded Williams’ struggles were due to these neurodegenerative diseases.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a group of disorders that occur when nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are lost, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. FTD can affect behavior, personality, language, and movement.
“Receiving a diagnosis has enabled Wendy to receive the medical care she requires,” the statement said.
“The decision to share this news was difficult and made after careful consideration, not only to advocate for understanding and compassion for Wendy, but to raise awareness about aphasia and frontotemporal dementia and support the thousands of others facing similar circumstances.”
The press released assured fans that the former shock jock is “still able to do many things for herself” and has maintained her “trademark sense of humor.”
Williams, who remains in an undisclosed treatment center where her family claims they’ve been unable to reach her, has been receiving the care she needs to make sure she is “protected,” the statement read.
“She is appreciative of the many kind thoughts and good wishes being sent her way.”
The disclosure of Williams’ diseases, from which famed actor Bruce Willis also suffers, comes ahead of the release of Lifetime’s documentary “Where Is Wendy Williams?”
Filmed over the course of two years and executive produced by Williams, the two-part documentary will dive into the media personality’s declining health and alcoholism, all of which contributed to her being placed under a court-ordered guardianship in 2022.
Fans first became concerned with Williams’ health when she collapsed on-air during her daytime talk show’s Halloween episode in 2017.
A year later, she pegged the health scare to her Graves’ disease diagnosis, but not long after that admission she copped to living in a sober house to treat her alcoholism.
Story developing…
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