By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Content Agency
April 15, 2014
Television viewers know Wendy Williams as the host of the syndicated chat series, “The Wendy Williams Show.” But the 49-year-old entertainer is also a bestselling author (“The Wendy Williams Experience,” “Ask Wendy”), starred on Broadway (“Chicago”) and competed on “Dancing with the Stars.” Williams, who got her start on radio, also was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. An executive producer of Oxygen’s reality show “Celebrities Undercover,” Williams — who resides in New Jersey with her husband and their son — has a new novel, “Hold Me in Contempt” (William Morrow, $14.99). Fans may follow Williams on Twitter.
Q. What memory do you have of traveling as a child?
A. When I was in high school, I went with friends to Monaco. My parents trusted me to go without them. It looked so fabulous and we had access to world-class shopping! I’d like to go back with my husband — maybe have a yacht waiting for us and then travel from there.
Q. What are some of your favorite vacation spots?
A. We like Miami a lot, but my parents are retired there. So even though we have a great time there, we don’t really consider it a vacation spot. We’ve gone to Aruba three times in a row and even requested the same room. When you like something, why not? We haven’t been back in years though. We like Puerto Rico a whole lot. I’m really excited about going to Hawaii ‘cause we’ve never been. It’s a long flight from Jersey and we’re tall people so generally when we choose our vacations, we like to travel three hours or less by plane. This Hawaii vacation is a big deal for us and I’m really looking forward to it! When we get there, I don’t want to see volcanoes or fly around in a helicopter. We care about the room service and the amenities!
Q. When you go away on vacations, do you have a set itinerary in mind?
A. No! We’re that family that doesn’t care about seeing ancient ruins or centuries-old landmarks. All we want to do is lie down on the beach and eat $12 M&M’s from the minibar. My absolute favorite way to spend time off is here in our home in New Jersey, but when we go away, I want to relax as much as I can.
Q. What would a few days away be like for your family?
A. We love to go anywhere warm with our son, who’s 13. So we would go visit places where the beaches are gorgeous and the food is scrumptious and the amenities are fabulous! I’m the first one up. Then I’ll wake up my son and husband around 10. At 10:01, we hit the beach and literally stay there until six in the evening. The sun makes you tired, so we’ll come clean up at our room and then visit the restaurants in whatever resort we’re at. We’re not ones to leave the compound. Honestly? If we’re not eating at a resort restaurant, we’re room service people. I know it makes us sound boring, but it really is a wonderful way to spend a vacation.
Q. What do you say to people who might argue that you’re not really traveling if you’re staying in one spot?
A. (Laughs). You know, I’m not out to impress people with where we go to and what we do. Honestly, I work so hard throughout the year and am running around for work all the time. My parents love to see all the stuff and visit the sights and be real tourists. And that’s what they enjoy doing. But if we went to Greece, as fabulous as I’m sure the Acropolis is, we would still want to hole up in a great resort and see what’s on cable and order room service. We just want to lie down like a dead fish and order stuff. We have a time limit that we all agree on when we travel as a family. We don’t want to go to any place longer than seven days. Generally speaking, we are a four-day kind of family. Then we want to come back home.
Q. Where would you like to get to that you haven’t yet?
A. I would love to go to any part of Africa.
Q. Would you leave the resort?
A. (Laughs!) I would! I would love to go on a safari. But yes, the resort would have to have really great amenities and the sand would have to be pure. Getting back to your earlier question, I’d also like to get to Italy. I want to eat real Italian food in Italy and just enjoy it all.
Q. Would a camping trip ever make it onto your travel bucket list?
A. Actually, I would go camping in a heartbeat! We have a one-month vacation coming up and I’d be up for camping, as long as there was a little luxury involved. (Laughs) My husband and son don’t sound that excited about it. People think I’m a diva, but I am that girl who will whitewater raft and do everything and get it done. I was a Girl Scout. I’m adventurous when it comes to camping.
Q. Besides amenities, what will get you to visit a new city?
A. Food! I’m a foodie and I love food fairs. They have a delicious one in Indianapolis that I enjoy going to.
© 2014 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
