If you’ve ever sat through a "Hot Topics" segment, you know Wendy Williams doesn't do subtle. She’s built a decades-long career on being the loud, brassy, and often polarizing "Queen of All Media." But for as long as she’s been dishing the dirt on everyone from Beyoncé to the Kardashians, a specific, persistent rumor has trailed her: is Wendy Williams a transexual?
It’s one of those internet urban legends that just won't die. You’ve probably seen the comments sections or the late-night forum threads. Because Wendy is 5'11", has a deep voice, and famously wears elaborate wigs, some people have spent years trying to "prove" she was born a man.
Honestly, it’s kinda wild how long this has persisted. But let’s get into the actual facts of the matter.
Why the speculation started in the first place
Wendy Williams has always had a "strong" look. She’s tall. Really tall. In her own words, she’s "an inch shy of 6 feet." She’s also been very open about her extensive plastic surgery, including her breast implants and liposuction.
For some reason, in the weird logic of celebrity gossip, "tall woman with surgery" equals "secretly trans" for a certain segment of the internet. People pointed to her hands, her jawline, and her height as "evidence."
Basically, it’s a form of "trans-vestigating"—a toxic online trend where people try to "out" cisgender women based on physical traits that don't fit a narrow, stereotypical mold of femininity.
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Wendy’s own response to the rumors
Wendy hasn’t exactly been quiet about these whispers. In a 2014 interview with ABC News, she addressed it head-on. She told Dan Kloeffler that people have thought she was born a man for a long time.
"That is absolutely not true," she said during that sit-down.
She explained that she gets why people might think it—she’s got a strong face and a big body. She even admitted that being told you look like a man is one of the "worst ways to insult a woman." But Wendy being Wendy, she turned it into a badge of toughness. She figured if she could survive those rumors, she could survive anything.
The confusion with "the other" Wendy Williams
Here is where things get genuinely confusing for people searching on Google. There is actually another public figure named Wendy Williams who is a trans woman.
There’s a famous adult film performer from the 2000s named Wendy Williams who is a trans woman and won several AVN awards. If you’re searching for "Wendy Williams transexual" or "Wendy Williams trans," Google’s algorithm sometimes mixes up the talk show host with the adult actress.
It’s a classic case of name-clash. One is a world-famous daytime TV host; the other is a well-known figure in the adult industry. They are two different people. Period.
Factual evidence of Wendy’s biological history
If the verbal denials aren't enough, Wendy’s life is extremely well-documented. We’re talking about a woman who has shared almost every intimate detail of her life on air for thirty years.
- Birth Records: Wendy Joan Williams was born on July 18, 1964, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, to Shirley and Thomas Williams. Her childhood is documented in her memoirs and various biographies.
- Fertility Struggles: Wendy has been incredibly candid about her "tortured" journey to motherhood. She suffered multiple miscarriages, some quite late in pregnancy, before giving birth to her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., in 2000.
- Medical History: Wendy has spent years discussing her "girl problems" on the radio and TV. She’s talked about her periods, her menopause, and her gynecological health in ways that leave very little to the imagination.
You can't really fake a history of multiple miscarriages and a biological pregnancy just to maintain a "cover." That's the stuff of spy novels, not a daytime talk show host from Jersey.
How health issues changed her appearance
Lately, the rumors have flared up again because Wendy looks... different. And let's be real, she has been through the wringer.
In 2024, her care team announced she was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). This followed years of struggling with Graves' disease and lymphedema.
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Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects the thyroid. One of its most visible symptoms is exophthalmos—which causes the eyes to bulge. Wendy used to joke about her "bulging eyes," but it’s a serious medical condition.
Lymphedema causes massive swelling in the limbs. Wendy’s feet and ankles often looked extremely swollen on her show, which led her to ditch her trademark high heels for sneakers. When your body is fighting multiple autoimmune and neurological issues, your physical appearance is going to change. For Wendy, these changes were often weaponized by trolls to "prove" she was hiding some secret about her gender.
The impact of the "Wendy is trans" narrative
The irony here is that while Wendy is not trans, she has a very complicated relationship with the LGBTQ+ community.
On one hand, she’s always called herself a "friend of the community." She’s had a huge gay fan base since her early radio days. On the other hand, she’s put her foot in her mouth more times than we can count.
In 2020, she caught major heat for saying gay men should "stop wearing our skirts and our heels" and that they’ll "never be the women that we are." That comment was labeled as both homophobic and transphobic.
It’s kind of a mess. People who don't like her use the "trans" rumors to mock her, while she herself has made comments that hurt the very people those rumors are about.
What we can learn from this
So, is Wendy Williams a transexual? No. She’s a cisgender woman who happens to be tall, has had plastic surgery, and lives with several debilitating chronic illnesses.
The obsession with her "biological sex" says a lot more about how society views women who don't fit a delicate, "feminine" aesthetic than it does about Wendy herself. It’s also a reminder that Google results can be messy—sometimes a shared name is all it takes to spark a decade-long rumor.
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If you’re looking to support Wendy or understand what she’s actually going through right now, your best bet is to look into the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD). They provide real resources on the condition she’s currently battling. Understanding the reality of her health is a lot more productive than chasing old, debunked rumors about her birth.
Stay skeptical of "trans-vestigation" videos on TikTok and stick to the medical facts. Wendy’s real story—the radio stardom, the messy divorce, the health battles—is plenty dramatic without needing to invent a secret history.