Having conquered the radio and publishing worlds, what made you decide to take on television as well?
It was a natural progression for me. I’d done some TV appearances before and gotten bitten by the TV bug. I’d been asked to guest host or appear on other shows in the past, but I really wanted something where I could just be Wendy. When Debmar-Mercury called … and we started talking, it seemed like everything fell into place really quickly — this was just the right time and the right opportunity.

Who is your personal role model?
My mom. My mother is a little fireball of energy and great health. She’s in her 70’s and struts around in Tory Burch, looking fantastic. Her nails are always done up and she knows just the right Hallmark card to send for just the right occasion. Her laughter is infectious; her cooking is amazing and the way she takes care of everybody around her and always makes time to have a perfect manicure — she’s just phenomenal!

You’ve been extremely open about your personal life and shared some very intimate things about yourself on television. Why do you make it a point to be open and comfortable with your audience?
My thing is dialogue — let’s talk about it. I’ve had a series of miscarriages, and I only talked about it on the radio, because I was forced to one day. Then I found out about all these women who’ve had miscarriages. I was the one to expose that my husband cheated on me in my 2001 autobiography. I exposed it. It was the first time I’d ever been cheated on in my life, and I was devastated! You know, he’s in the book talking about it. It is what it is — it happened. You need to keep yourself together for you and the next man. We worked it out and we’re still together today.

I know that I’m not alone in my experiences, so it’s nice to share with the audience and connect with them. Also, I’m beyond the point of being embarrassed by things that might have embarrassed me horribly when I was younger; younger meaning, 10 years ago, 20 years ago — I’m beyond that.

You’re very candid — is that something that comes naturally to you or is it something you’ve learned to be over the years?
T.M.T.F.T.L. — that’s the code in my family for “too much, too fast, too loud.” I was [always] the one saying something inappropriate. I was always talking too loud, and talking too much, and too fast and I was always this candid. My original family — my mom, my dad, my brother, and sister — they know I was born to do this. And you know what else they know? They know that any one of the five of us could have done the same thing.

What is your best advice for women who are juggling their roles as professionals and mothers?
Make sure that your boyfriend/husband/significant other are on the same page as you, understanding what it takes to make your life right, because if they don’t understand it’s not gonna work.

Also, stop lying to one another. Stop trying to be perfect and lying to your friends, acting like it’s perfect, because it really scares them. It’s not perfect. Women try to lie and say their husbands are the best and their children are the best and they are able to manage career and work. No they aren’t!

If you could set the record straight on one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I’m not as judgmental as people think. I’m going to, of course, lower my lids or twist my mouth if I feel as though something is ridiculous, but I’ll hear you out — variety is the spice of life. There are all kinds of people in this world.

If you could have anyone as your first guest on July 13th who would it be?
Oh, I don’t want to sound clichè and say Michelle Obama, because I feel as though she’d be a great conversationalist but I don’t think that she’s a giggler. But the best guests aren’t always the A-listers, but people who are great storytellers and have something interesting to say. Sometimes those people are the celebrities, but it can also be a make up artist, bartender or limo driver. Limo drivers have ALL the good stories.