Inside Wendy Williams’ wild year: Rehab, divorce and ‘Wendy in the City’

Williams spent this month M.I.A.

She delayed her show return twice in January and then was forced to delay it again after she was hospitalized for complications stemming from her Graves’ Disease.

“Wendy will be under the strict supervision of her physicians, and as part of her care, there will be significant time spent in the hospital,” a statement from her family read. “Despite her strong desire to return, she is taking a necessary, extended break from her show to focus on her personal and physical well-being.”

Williams continued her hiatus well into February, prompting fill-in host Cannon to emotionally address Williams’ absence.

“She said she wanted to speak as a family unit and her, [her husband] Kevin and [her son] Little Kevin they said they are all good,” Cannon told fans. “The love and the passion is still there because that’s what you need in times like this … is for your family to stick together with you.”

Williams’ mystery disappearance continued to fuel rumors that she was struggling with substance abuse again — she’s always been candid about her years of cocaine addiction — and that her marriage to Kevin Hunter was falling apart at the seams because of his alleged affair with Sharina Hudson.

The pile-up of drama led insiders to exclusively tell Page Six that she was getting “super scared” of potentially losing her show to her Cannon given his great ratings.

“She’s super scared and anxious,” said an insider at the time. “Watching Nick Cannon being a huge hit with her audience is tough for her. They’re already starting to mess with the format. It’s like watching them screw around with her baby.”

Other insiders recalled Hunter’s allegedly abusive behavior toward Williams that led to his total control of what took place behind the scenes, including having a say in her close friendships.

“Once they went to a designer’s showroom in Manhattan and the stylist drove Wendy back [home] to New Jersey. Wendy asked to be dropped off a block away so Kevin wouldn’t see that she was in the car with the stylist,” a former TV producer for Williams’ eponymous show shared with The Post, adding that Hunter eventually found out “and the stylist was let go from her position shortly after.”

Williams made her made her grand return to the purple chair on March 4, 2019, and spoke about endless medical tests she’d undergone during her hiatus. She also appeared to dismiss any rumors about her flailing marriage to Hunter.

“I’m still very much in love with my husband,” she said. “Don’t ask me about mine.” Pointing to her wedding ring, Williams added, “It ain’t going anywhere. Not in this lifetime.”

Of course, that would change just a month later.

“We’re spending time as a family — the Hunters,” she said of her time off, “and I just wanted to take some time for myself … I am my own best friend.”

“I’m at home, and I’m taking my thyroid meds, and I’m meditating,” she explained. “Oh, believe me you. I’m going to the gym seven days a week for two hours a day.”

A few days later, Williams announced that her Hunter Foundation was launching a substance-abuse hotline to help those in need, further raising eyebrows that she had relapsed during her absence. Finally, she came clean to her fans, telling the public that she’d been living in a sober house.

Though Williams maintained her husband was by her side, insiders told Page Six that her “controlling” hubby was to blame for her sober stay. By the end of the month, Williams’ wedding ring, which she had said earlier in the year wouldn’t go anywhere, had been removed amid swirling rumors of his affair with Hudson.

At the end of the month, Page Six confirmed that Hudson had given birth to her first child with Hunter while Williams remained in the sober-living facility. The drama appeared to take a toll on the media personality, as she was discovered drunk and needed an IV to help get sobered up.

Let single Williams commence!

Page Six exclusively revealed that Williams had filed for divorce from Hunter after nearly 22 years of marriage. Williams sought to request the “appropriate amount of child support” for their son, Kevin Hunter Jr., as well as “other further relief as the Court deems fair and equitable.”

Referencing the segment’s motto — “Their business is our business” — Williams opened up about the split on her show.

“It’s crazy ’cause now my business is your business,” Williams said with a laugh. “It’s kind of funny. Turnabouts a fair game, I get it.”

She also revealed that she would be moving out of the sober house to be back on her own.

Hunter released a statement of his own addressing his divorce from Williams that also seemed to reference his affair.

“I have dedicated most of our lives to the business empire that is Wendy Williams Hunter, a person that I truly love and respect unconditionally,” he said. “I am not proud of my recent actions and take full accountability and apologize to my wife, my family and her amazing fans.”

Perhaps his apology wasn’t enough, as Williams fired Hunter from “The Wendy Williams Show” after negotiating his exit. His name was wiped from the credits just one day later. Cutting Hunter off didn’t end there — she next hired Bernie Young to take over as her manager, Page Six exclusively confirmed.

April ended on a dramatic note with Hunter calling the cops on Williams when she showed up unannounced to their marital home in Livingston, New Jersey, to move out her personal belongings to her new apartment in New York City. A police report obtained by Page Six stated that the former couple eventually came to a compromise that allowed Williams to leave with her clothing, personal paintings and spare bedroom furnishings.

Williams continued her personal-life spring cleaning, publicly admonishing her estranged husband while moving on with a brand-new life with her “parade of men.”

“I’m reclaiming my life,” Williams declared. “I don’t have a boyfriend, but I’m rediscovering my love of men … I do date and I date pretty often…”

Having reclaimed her life, Williams insisted on cutting all ties with Hunter, which meant dissolving her and Hunter’s charity, The Hunter Foundation, and its projects, including the hotline she launched in March.

While the former couple’s son largely remained out of the picture, Kevin Jr. found himself underneath the spotlight when he was arrested following an altercation with his father in the parking lot of a store near their family home. Their fight turned physical when Kevin Sr. put his son in a headlock. Kevin Jr. then punched his father in the nose to get out of his grasp.

Kevin Sr. ultimately declined to press charges, though his son would appear in court June for the assault.

Vacation proved to be healthy for Williams, who picked up a 27-year-old boy toy while relaxing in LA. Her mystery man turned out to be Marc Tomblin, a convicted felon, which didn’t stop the star from bringing him back to New York to shower him with shopping sprees.

“I am a 54-year-old grown-ass woman,” she said at the time. “I know what I’m doing.”

Though Williams was in “more control” of her life since her split, her son’s legal woes remained. Kevin Jr. appeared in court to plead not guilty to the assault against his father. His attorney told Page Six at the time he expected the case to be “resolved favorably.”

Following her bold and colorful appearance at the NYC Pride Parade, Williams declared she had a new boo in her life — a 50-something doctor. But the doctor thought to be Williams’ man — a former cop and criminal justice expert with a P.h.D. named Darrin Porcher — told us exclusively that they weren’t romantically involved.

“It’s flattering to hear, but it’s not the case,” he said. “I’m in a relationship. I just worked security for her for a couple of weeks after she filed for divorce.”

While her relationship status remained unclear, Williams’ son’s legal status did, in fact, resolve favorably; his case was dismissed. Williams also dismissed her estranged husband by “completely” gutting his former office at her show’s studio. The newfound space was gifted to four audience coordinators to share.

With Hunter in Williams’ rearview mirror, Williams was free to celebrate her 55th birthday in style — by channeling Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” while dining at the jewelry store’s Blue Box Café.

Williams, who’d already relocated to New York City, and Hunter put their suburban home on the market, Page Six exclusively reported. The estranged couple asked $1,895,000 for the home and they were poised to take a hit on it, as they paid $2,100,000 for the property, which is located in the luxury Bel Air gated community in Livingston, New Jersey.

Though Williams had found a new home base, she was set to hit the road for her “For the Record…Umm Hmm! Tour” but in August began canceling certain tour dates, citing scheduling conflicts. Instead, Williams proudly flaunted on Instagram photos of her partying with the likes of Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Nene Leakes and more A-listers.

She ultimately canceled the entire tour because of low ticket sales.

No stranger to throwing shade, Williams went off in September against her estranged hubby. First, she wiped “wife” from her Instagram page and then she appeared on “The View” and poked fun at him for having to change diapers given his status as his father to a newborn.

“I’m not a selfish mom. I’m a very plot-ative individual. Like I will plot on you. That’s why I’m going into Season 11 and he’s changing Pampers,” said Williams, referencing Hunter’s baby girl he allegedly welcomed earlier this year with Hudson.

While Hunter’s relationship with Hudson remains unclear at this time, Williams’ dating life was anything but vague.

“I see many men,” she answered on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” when asked if she’s still dating the doctor from the summer. She added she has age requirements for potential partners. “The youngest would be, like, 48,” she said. “The oldest would be 65.”

With so many men in rotation, Williams’ hair would always have to be on point, but unfortunately, we broke the story that her longtime wig stylist, Robyn Michele, quit after years of service. Michele assured us there was no “bad blood” with Williams.

She was replaced with Dominic Santiago.

Business-wise, Debmar-Mercury, the production distribution company behind Williams’ show, renewed the talker for two more seasons, which an insider told us would be her “swan song.”

Williams and Hunter’s divorce proceedings took a turn, as Page Six broke the story that Williams was ordered to pay her estranged husband $250,000 to find new living arrangements so they could sell their marital home.

The financial hit didn’t appear to bother Williams, as she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame just a couple of weeks later.

Williams closed out the month with her first Halloween as a “nearly single” woman.

On the heels of her Walk of Fame star, we broke the story that Williams would be memorialized in wax by Madame Tussauds at its New York location.

Williams started the year out in rough waters but she ended the year on a high note — calling Ray J out for allegedly leaving wife Princess Love stranded — before leaving on a vacation that will take her into 2020.

If there’s one thing this year has proven, it’s that she can and will handle anything. 2020 will be anything but boring.