Sherri Shepherd on Permanently Replacing Wendy Williams, What She Plans to 'Emulate' with New Show

During an appearance on Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," the 54-year-old actress spoke about William's legacy and what she admires most about her predecessor's tenure a day after the show's announcement.

"She made her own path. What Wendy does, nobody can recreate — none of the guest hosts. That is specific, Wendy created that," Shepherd noted. "The 'spill the tea,' and she'd sit there and be like, 'You know what I'm talkin' about.'"

She continued, "So I love that, and I love her fearlessness, and that is something that I want to emulate and keep going. She opened up a lot of doors, and she's up there with the greats."

Sherri also admitted that becoming the host of her own talk show had been a dream she had carried ever since she was a little girl. The "Precious" actress has been acting as a guest host on "The Wendy Williams Show" and has previously been a co-host on "The View."

"I used to be like five years old with like a toilet paper roll [microphone] and all my teddy bears, talking to my teddy bears," she gushed.

"The Wendy Williams Show" will meet its end after 13 seasons due to Wendy's ongoing health issues. Williams had contracted a breakthrough case of COVID-19 which had triggered complications related to her Graves' disease despite recovering from the virus.

The TV personality's representative released a statement that assured fans that Williams understood why her namesake show would be having its last season.

"It's been a challenging time for Wendy as she deals with her health issues. She is incredibly grateful to Debmar-Mercury, to Sherri and everybody else who has supported the show through this time," the statement said.

"She, more than anyone, understands the reality of syndicated television — you can't go to the marketplace and sell a show that's the 'Maybe Wendy Show,'" it continued. "She understands why this decision was made from a business point of view, and she has been assured by Debmar-Mercury that should her health get to a point where she can host again and should her desire be that she hosts again that she would be back on TV at that time."