Just consider her office at the mid-Manhattan studio where she tapes her syndicated weekday "Wendy Williams Show," which starts Monday. It will air locally at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. weekdays on Channel 29. It also airs on BET weeknights at 11 p.m.

She is nearly 6 feet tall, silkily bewigged, voluptuous and a big talker. She is also a high-rev reflection of her chosen surroundings: fuchsia color scheme, leopard-skin design and, for good measure, a sparkling chandelier.

Williams, who turns 45 on July 18, says she hasn't changed much from her childhood, when her schoolteacher parents used to caution her with the code "TMTLTF" (too much, too loud, too fast) - "but now, I'm doing something useful with it."

And how.

She's a veteran radio DJ and talk-show host whose "Wendy Williams Experience" is heard by some 12 million listeners nationwide. She has published several books, including a memoir and her latest novel, released in May.

Now, after a bygone fling on VH1, she's taking on TV, big-time.

On her new "Wendy Williams Show," she promises a party. Guests, celebrity and otherwise. ("Ugly Betty" star Vanessa Williams is Monday's guest.) Fashion and cooking segments. Gossip and other "Hot Topics." Lots of interaction with her studio audience.

"I like to entertain people, give them information, make them smile - and laugh!" she says. "This is not a heavyweight show. I'm not here to talk political, or split the atom."

She adds with certainty that her appeal stretches far beyond what, in the lingo of her industry, is termed "the urban audience."

Her show, says Williams, "is not a black thing. It's a THING thing! And it's a positive show. I'm not a shock jock, and I'm not a shocking person. 'Shock' to me goes along with nasty and mean-spirited. I'm a lovely woman from New Jersey," she says, without a trace of irony, "and I'm sensitive."

Viewers in a handful of cities got a sample last summer, during the show's six-week tryout.

Even in that relatively brief run, there was at least one not-so-positive display: She and a guest, reality TV villain Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, clashed during a sequence that found the former "Apprentice" contestant ripping Williams' appearance while the host returned fire, calling Omarosa "a typical angry black woman."

It was a raucous reminder: Wendy Williams is no, um, shrinking violet.

"Woman my height are normally THIS big," says Williams, forming a ring with her thumb and forefinger to signify thinness. "They're called supermodels. No, I'm not a supermodel. But I do have a big personality and it's natural, which is why this show is going to be so easy."

What's next for the budding TV star? "I hope to be America's new sweetheart." *