Sherri Shepherd Gushes Over Wendy Williams After Taking Over Her TV Show!

Sherri Shepherd knows that Wendy Williams walked so she could run!

The newly-minted Sherri host sat down with Andy Cohen on Wednesday’s Watch What Happens Live! and gushed over the legacy of Williams — whose talk show hers is replacing later this year as the daytime diva continues to deal with a host of health issues.

The 30 Rock alum, who served as a guest host on The Wendy William Show before landing the full time gig, told the Bravo host:

“Oh my gosh, she made her own path. What Wendy does, nobody can recreate, none of the guest hosts. I love her fearlessness, and that is something I want to emulate and keep going. She opened up a lot of doors, and she’s up there with the greats.”

Gurl opened up a huge door for Sherri after her ext from The Talk, that’s for sure, so it’s good to hear the actress has nothing but love for her predecessor.

Sherri went on to directly thank Wendy for letting her have the opportunity as a guest host, and shared how important it is to her to get the chance to host her own talk show — something she used to dream about as a kid. She recalled:

“I used to be like 5 years old with a toilet paper roll in front of my teddy bears, talking to my teddy bears.”

Ha! We could totally see that!

And it sounds like Sherri will be leaving no hot topic uncovered when her show premieres. When Cohen later asked if she’d be covering the Real Housewives on her new series, she said:

“Absolutely! One of my best friends is Garcelle [Beauvais].”

Ooooh! We hope that means some piping hot tea can be expected!

In her initial announcement that her series would be kicking off in September, the host noted her show “is going to look different, it’s going to feel different, but we are going to have a lot of fun, we’re gonna have a lot of laughs, we’re gonna have a lot of joy.”

She also made it clear to viewers that she’s not replacing Wendy “because no one can replace the queen,” adding that she’s “not trying to at all.” She shared:

“This show was specifically crafted for her. No one can do this format but Wendy, nobody can sit in a purple chair and sip the tea like Wendy Williams… Wendy Williams created a unique brand that folks are always gonna love and talk about.”

We’ll have to see what kind of brand Sherri creates for herself as she spreads her own talk show wings. Are YOU looking forward to her version of the show??

In the meantime, check out the clip (below) for more.