Wendy Williams revealed as Lips on ‘The Masked Singer’

Wendy Williams said a big “How you doin'?" to “The Masked Singer" Wednesday as she was revealed to be the face — and voice — behind Lips.

The talk show host, an Asbury Park native who grew up in Ocean Township, sang a disco song, “Native New Yorker,” by Odyssey.

“The Masked Singer” keeps its celebrity singers a secret while they perform, thanks to over-the-top costumes that obscure their face, leaving the audience and judges to guess their identity.

One of the show’s judges, Jenny McCarthy, correctly guessed that Williams, 56, was behind a glittery pair of red lips.

McCarthy cracked up as Williams momentarily stopped singing during her performance, snorting and laughing.

McCarthy pointed to two hints Williams gave as to her identity. First, that people have “strong opinions” about her and second, that she always speaks her truth.

“Only talk show hosts can do that,” she said. “We get in trouble for it but we do it.”

Williams, who resided in Livingston before selling her home this summer after her divorce, also gave another very Jersey clue on the Fox show: disco fries. She has hosted “The Wendy Williams Show” on the same network since 2008.

“My fans are going to lose it tonight,” Williams said in the clues segment, which disguised her voice. “Because while I’ve been shocking the public for decades, they’d never expect to see me on this stage."

Another of the judges, Nicole Scherzinger, also guessed Williams was behind the mask. The two hints that tipped her off in the clues segment were that Williams was a contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice” and a mention of the West Wing — two Ws, just like Williams' initials.

The longtime media personality, who spent many years in radio before moving to TV, recently made headlines for addressing some speculation about her on-air behavior on “The Wendy Williams Show” last week.

Fans said that Williams appeared altered somehow during the talk show broadcast. As she spoke, slowly, she took long pauses between words. Some speculated that she had a relapse, having previously struggled with drug addiction. In 2019, Williams spent time living in a sober house.

Williams has also dealt with other health challenges. She suffers from Graves' disease, an autoimmune condition that causes hypothyroidism and a host of related symptoms.

In 2017, she fainted on air in her Halloween costume. Williams has taken several breaks from hosting the show, saying doctor-mandated leave from work was part of her treatment for Graves' disease. She returned from one such break in September.

Ultimately, though Williams appeared to address the social media chatter on Monday’s show, she did not give any specific reason for why she may have seemed to act differently on Friday’s episode.

“I appreciate you watching,” she told the audience. “But even after all of these years, it’s still work, an effort put in for the hour that I’m out here with you, you know? I guess every day is not perfect but I’m not a perfectionist. I’m not perfect.”

Williams made the comments after DJ Boof, the talk show’s former DJ, opened up about the show on Instagram.

“Y’all have no idea what’s really going on and everyone there is afraid to speak up because they don’t wanna lose their jobs,” he said. “This is going to play out bad ... I feel sorry for the workers and victims.”

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