Wendy Williams Files for Divorce from Kevin Hunter After More Than 20 Years of Marriage

Wendy Williams is splitting from longtime love and manager Kevin Hunter.

The daytime talk show host filed for divorce Thursday after two decades of marriage, a source confirms to PEOPLE.

“Thank you to everyone for respecting the family’s privacy during this time. Kevin is supportive of Wendy and they are working through this process together,” the personal representative for Wendy Williams told PEOPLE in a statement. “No additional comment will be provided at this time.”

A representative for her show released the following statement: “Wendy and her family have been a part of Debmar-Mercury for over 10 years,. We respect their privacy regarding personal matters. As always, we remain committed to bringing an entertaining and topical show to our viewers.”

Williams, 54, and Hunter, 46, wed on Nov. 30, 1997, and share son Kevin Jr., 18.

Earlier Thursday, Williams hosted her show without wearing her wedding ring — or mentioning any marital issues.

The breakup news comes after a difficult time for the TV personality, who recently revealed that she was living in a sober house. (She has long been open about her past addiction to cocaine.)

And she took an extended hiatus from The Wendy Williams Show from January until March, saying she needed to recover from a fractured shoulder and take care of herself due to her battle with Grave’s disease, an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid.

In 2017, Williams told PEOPLE that Hunter had been a pillar of strength as she grappled with her diagnosis.

“My husband was extremely concerned,” she said. “He’s not just my husband, he’s my business partner, one of the executive producers on the show and he’s also my manager. He and I are glued at the hip.”

“He was with me every step,” she added. “For him, seeing me go through all of this, it’s really been trying on him. I’ve been concerned about him. I’m like, ‘Don’t worry about me!’”

But they had their struggles: Hunter cheated on Williams after she gave birth to their son, a painful period she described in her memoir Wendy’s Got the Heat.

“It has made our marriage — and I know this is cliché, but it’s true — it’s made our marriage stronger,” she told VladTV in 2013. “No, I’m not back to the girl I was before him, because when you get stung like that, you never go back to who you were — only a fool does. But I love him, and he loves me, and we addressed it head-on.”

Still, they were plagued by persistent rumors of Hunter’s alleged further infidelities ever since.

“I stand by my guy,” Williams said on her show in September 2017. “All is well in Hunterville. Don’t believe the hype and if there was hype, believe me you — I would let you know!”

When she came back from hiatus last month, she once again refuted reports of a split.

“I’m still very much in love with my husband and anyone who’s been married … you know.”

“Marriages have ebbs and flows, marriage isn’t easy. And don’t ask me about mine until you see this gone,” she added, gesturing to her wedding ring. “And it ain’t going anywhere, not in this lifetime.”

This was Williams’ second marriage.