The talk show host opens up to ET about how she's handling self-isolation and getting back into dating.
Wendy Williams is getting used to life in quarantine.
The outspoken daytime talk show host spoke with ET's Kevin Frazier this week via video chat about how she's been holding up while social distancing and how things are going to be different when the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
"I'm a recluse by nature so being in the house is not a big thing for me," Williams shared. "I'm surrounded by all my good stuff. And there's good food, got my cats… I spend a lot of time thinking about what new life is going to be like."
As Williams sees it, even after stay-at-home orders are lifted and states begin reopening businesses, life won't be going back to the way it was before the pandemic.
"It'll be different, you know? There'll be no more hugging, no more hand-shaking, which is odd. No more leaving the house without a mask and gloves," she shared. "Even if I don't think that I need it, I'll always have that stuff."
"I always was a sanitizer girl, so that's not new," she added. "But the studio [where The Wendy Williams Show is taped] will not have as many chairs. My co-hosts will no longer be packed in like sardines like we always [were], having a good time."
In the meantime, The Wendy Williams Show must go on, and Williams has been taping new daily episodes remotely from her home in New York City. However, she has not shied away from admitting to some initial hesitation toward doing the program from her home.
"I feel like everybody deserves privacy and I give so much during my show, of myself, that the warm place that I've always been able to count on to be my own secret, little place is home," Williams said.
"[But] I was convinced by production that this is what we need to do," she added. "So I do my own hair, I do my own makeup, I put on my own outfits from, you know, my closet."
Williams' at-home episodes have been something of a hit with her fans -- including Last Week Tonight host John Oliver, who has spoken at length about Williams' genuine personality and fearless forthrightness since she began taping episodes from her bedroom.
"He's got taste. I like him a lot," Williams said of Oliver, who was recently a guest on her show as well, via video chat. "I appreciate being recognized [for my efforts]. I truly do love what I'm doing. I felt like I was born to do this. And sometimes, in our profession, those less qualified get the awards and the acknowledgements and those who need to be acknowledged get forgotten about."
"I thought we'd last, at the most, a season, maybe three. And here we are, still doing it, and all I know how to be is me," she added. "And it feels really natural."
That being said, Williams is looking forward to getting back to some semblance of life before the outbreak, and one thing she's excited about is dating again, following her divorce from Kevin Hunter, whom Williams split from last year following a cheating scandal.
"I am getting used to life as a single woman again," the 55-year-old TV personality said. "I was involved with him for over 25 years or so, and now I am a woman of a particular age in a particular stage in life, so being single now is a lot different."
Williams explained that she's "more mature" at this point in her life and she's got "a lot at stake" in terms of her career, which means she can "be more choosy" when it comes to the men she opens her heart to and allows into her life.
"I have options that I did not have back then, and I have clarity like I have never had before," Williams explained. "I definitely want a new mister."
"I am not one of those women that says, 'I don't need a man.' It's not that I need you, it is that I like you and that I want you," Williams said. "But I will be very choosy."
Williams also revealed that, as part of her new status in life and self-described choosiness, there will be some new rules in regard to her interactions with suitors.
"Once we get un-quarantined, we will not kiss on the first date," Williams explained.
She also knows what she's looking for in a man when dating once again becomes feasible.
"I want him to be smart enough to still tell me, 'No, Wendy, now you sit down. I got this.' But do you understand how qualified he's gotta be for the job?" Williams joked. "Men are scared of me. You know, I have a big presence. I talk, I'm tall, you know, I carry myself in a particular way. And I've done that all my life since first grade. I used to scare the boys away."
"Look, I am open and I am ready and I either want a life partner or I'll take a ring on it," she declared, quickly adding. "With a prenuptial agreement!"
If she does end up getting married again, Williams said she already knows she doesn't want it to be a big deal, and there will be "no aisle" to walk down for the ceremony.
"We'll call somebody in a hotel suite. We'll get married right there. There's no aisle," Williams said. "I'm not wearing that stupid white dress again."
In the meantime, the host is taping new episodes of The Wendy Williams Show remotely from her own home amid the quarantine. Check here for local listings.
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