Why Sherri Shepherd Was Pulled From ‘Wendy Williams Show’ After Receiving Praise From Viewers

Fans were thrilled to have Sherri Shepherd once again guest-host “The Wendy Williams Show” this week, but she missed the gig and Michael Rapaport had to quickly step in to lead the talk show.

The 54-year-old television personality was supposed to take over the iconic purple chair starting Monday, but she was abruptly pulled from her stint due to a medical emergency, Us Weekly reported.

According to Shepherd’s publicist, she failed to show up for the hosting gig because she had to undergo emergency surgery for appendicitis.

“Due to appendicitis, Sherri Shepherd underwent an emergency surgery yesterday. The procedure was successful, and Ms. Shepherd is doing fine and resting,” the publicist said in a statement to Deadline.

The statement continued, “She is absolutely devastated that she will not be able to guest host ‘The Wendy Williams Show’ today, but she is following doctors’ orders and expected to make a full recovery.”

For her part, Shepherd took to Instagram to address her absence. She shared screenshots of the Deadline article and spoke about the surgery in the caption.

“If you watched the @WendyWilliams show today, you saw the news about my emergency surgery. Thanks to @MichaelRapaport for stepping in for me at the last minute! And while I’m mad I didn’t meet WWE’s Naomi aka @trinity_fatu in person yet, Jeffrey did,” she wrote.

Many fans quickly flooded the comments section with well-wishes for the comedian and author. Shepherd previously made some social media buzz because when she hosted the show in October in the titular host’s absence, many viewers praised how she handled it. Some even urged producers to quickly bring her back on the show, a request that producers granted.

In a follow-up post, the actress-host uploaded a video of her lying on her hospital bed after undergoing an appendectomy. Shepherd said she wasn’t sure “where it came from” and only learned about her condition after experiencing “pain” in her stomach region.

“Hi everyone! Thank you for your love & well wishes. My stomach was hurting so badly, the surgeons told me they had to do an emergency #appendectomy last night,” she wrote in the caption.

Shepherd went on to assure her fans that she will definitely be back on the talk show “tomorrow with the tea” as she is already “feeling much better.”

As for Williams, she is unlikely to return to her eponymous show at the moment despite already feeling “better” amid her health struggles. In a personal statement, the host made it clear that she’s coming back to the show once she’s ready and on her own terms.