Known as a "shock jock diva," Wendy Williams has had a following in the nation's number one media market, New York City, and across the nation from the time she became a top-rated radio personality and "It Girl" in the mid-1990s—whether she's hosting her nationally syndicated television talk show The Wendy Williams Show or doing commentary for the VH1 Fashion Awards, her fans know that Wendy's Got the Heat . Wendy Williams is the kind of media personality that artists love because she builds them up—and fear because she can bring them down. She's interviewed many of the biggest names in entertainment—Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, and Queen Latifah among them—and is known for her ability to disarm and get them to reveal their secrets. Known as both a "shock jock diva" and "the biggest mouth in New York," Wendy Williams is always at the top of her game, whether she's doing commentary for the VH1 Fashion Awards or giving romantic advice. But there's more to the Queen of Urban Radio than meets the mike. Wendy's Got the Heat is her story—about growing up in a predominately white suburb, recovering from drug addiction, struggling to launch a successful career in one of the most male-dominated media industries—and it's by turns painful, hilarious, triumphant, and totally true. Amy DuBois Barnett Honey magazine With the incredible success of her daily program -- full of celebrity dish and frank advice -- Wendy is at the top of her game....The best part? Wendy achieved her success by being herself. New York Post If you're dying to find out everything there is to know about radio scandal-monger Wendy Williams, she has a story for you. Wendy Williams , a graduate of Northeastern University, is the host of the popular television show The Wendy Williams Show . Lifetime also released a documentary revolving around Wendy’s life, Wendy Williams: What a Mess! She lives in New York with her husband and son. Karen Hunter is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, a celebrated radio talk-show host, and coauthor of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including Confessions of a Video Vixen , On the Down Low , and Wendy’s Got the Heat . She is also an assistant professor in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College. Chapter One: Wendy from Wayside What mother and father give their daughter ruby earrings for getting her period? I got my period when I was thirteen. It was one of the most memorable and humiliating experiences I have ever had. I didn't get a box of pads and that little talk with my mother that most people get. No, both my mother and my father (how mortifying) sat me down for the "you're becoming a woman now" speech and afterward they presented me with two 14-karat gold birds with small rubies inside the claws of the birds. I guess the rubies were to signify my period and my passage into womanhood. My period seemed a bigger deal to my parents than it was to me. I was not raised in a normal household. I'm sure my parents, Shirley and Thomas, will consider themselves the epitome of normal. But to the outside world, in many respects, I had the perfect family. And actually, looking back, I think so, too. I had a wonderful upbringing and I wouldn't trade my parents for any in the world. But... Remember that song from Electric Company, "Which of these things does not belong here, which of these things is not the same...?" I was the thing that didn't belong in my family. That was what I thought growing up. Today, I know that's not true. I now know that I am definitely my parents' child and I totally fit with everything they tried to instill in us. It just took thirty-something years for me and them to realize it. My parents worked very hard to give all of us a solid foundation. They worked extremely hard to make sure none of us wanted for anything. That was why we moved to Ocean Township, New Jersey -- Wayside to be exact. We moved there when I was five from Asbury Park, which was going through a rough period following the riots. Moving to Wayside was like the Jeffersons moving to the East Side to a "deluxe apartment in the sky." Wayside, a middle-class to upper-middle-class section of Ocean Township, was approximately forty-five minutes south of Manhattan on the Jersey Shore. There were people in our neighborhood with lots of money living in big houses. There were people living in big houses with money to live in bigger houses. And then there were people like my parents, who scraped together everything they had to give us the best. Part of the best included living in a nice, safe neighborhood without a lot of transient families. Wayside was usually the last stop for most families -- people rarely moved from there. I had a next-door neighbor, Jackie, who was there when we moved in and was still there when we both graduated from high school and went off to college. She might be still there today for all I know. My parents wanted a sense of permanence for us and Wayside was that