Bert Girigorie: Wendy Williams’ First Husband, Bio & Career

Long before Wendy Williams became one of daytime television’s most recognizable voices, she was a young radio personality building her career in New York City. During that period, she met and married Bert Girigorie, a sales and marketing professional who would later become known simply as “Wendy Williams’ first husband.”

Their marriage lasted only a matter of months, yet it remains a frequently searched chapter of Wendy Williams’ personal history. What often gets left out, though, is the rest of Bert Girigorie’s story: his upbringing in Charlotte, North Carolina, his education at a respected historically Black college, his decades-long career in advertising and marketing, and the private business he eventually built from the ground up.

This guide covers everything currently known about Bert Girigorie, including his early life, his career path, what really happened during his brief marriage to Wendy Williams, and where he stands today as the president of G2 Marketing Inc.

Profile Summary

Before diving deeper, here is a quick snapshot of who Bert Girigorie is.

• Full Name: Bert Girigorie
• Date of Birth: March 13, 1964
• Birthplace: Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
• Nationality: American
• Education: Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia
• Occupation: Sales and marketing executive, entrepreneur
• Known For: First husband of media personality Wendy Williams
• Marriage: Wendy Williams (1994 to 1995)
• Children: None publicly known
• Current Role: President, G2 Marketing Inc.
• Estimated Net Worth: Between $500,000 and $1 million (unverified)
• Residence: Charlotte, North Carolina

Early Life and Education

Bert Girigorie was born on March 13, 1964, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He grew up in a close-knit Christian household alongside his siblings, Bruce and Gabrielle Girigorie. Faith and family structure played a meaningful role in his upbringing, and those values are frequently cited as the foundation for the disciplined, low-key approach he has taken to both his career and his personal life ever since.

Public details about his childhood remain limited, which is fairly common for someone who never sought a public platform of his own. What is well documented, however, is his academic background. Bert attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the most respected historically Black colleges and universities in the United States. Morehouse has produced generations of business leaders, and it was there that Girigorie is reported to have developed the communication and strategic thinking skills that would later define his career in advertising sales and marketing.

His time at Morehouse also placed him firmly within a network of ambitious young professionals, many of whom went on to build careers in media, business, and public service. That environment gave him early exposure to the kind of client relationship building and brand messaging work he would spend the next three decades mastering.

Growing up in Charlotte during the 1960s and 1970s, Girigorie was raised in a household that valued education, discipline, and community involvement. While detailed accounts of his exact childhood milestones are scarce, biographers and profile writers consistently point to a stable, faith-centered home environment as the backdrop for his later career choices. This grounded upbringing is often cited as one reason he handled his brief period of public attention with restraint rather than seeking to capitalize on it.

By the time he graduated from Morehouse, Girigorie had already developed an interest in advertising and communications, fields that combined his natural people skills with a growing curiosity about how brands connect with audiences. That interest set the stage for the career path he would follow immediately after college.

Career Beginnings

After finishing college, Bert Girigorie moved into the advertising and radio sales industry, working as an account executive in New York City during the early 1990s. This was the era when he first crossed paths with Wendy Williams, who was then working her way up through New York radio.

Radio advertising sales is a demanding field that requires strong relationship management, negotiation skills, and a sharp understanding of audience behavior. Girigorie reportedly excelled in this environment early on, building a reputation for being reliable, personable, and results driven. That early training in persuasive communication and client management would later become the backbone of his own marketing company.

New York in the early 1990s was a competitive market for advertising sales, with dozens of radio stations fighting for the same pool of advertisers. Succeeding in that environment meant learning to pitch quickly, build long-term client trust, and adapt to shifting listener demographics, skills that translate directly into modern digital marketing work. Girigorie spent several years honing this craft before his personal life, and later his professional life, took a significant turn.

It was during this period, while both were working in New York radio, that he crossed paths with a young on-air personality named Wendy Williams. Their professional overlap in the same industry is part of what initially brought them together, long before either of them could have predicted how differently their public lives would eventually unfold.

Key Highlights of His Early Career Include:

• Working as an account executive at a New York radio station in the early 1990s
• Building expertise in advertising sales and client relationship management
• Developing a strong understanding of audience behavior and campaign strategy
• Gaining hands-on experience that would later support his transition into digital marketing
• Establishing professional connections within the New York media and advertising scene

Marriage to Wendy Williams

Bert Girigorie and Wendy Williams met while both were working in the New York radio industry. According to multiple accounts, the two dated for roughly two years before deciding to get married. They exchanged vows in 1994 in a ceremony attended by family, reportedly officiated by a pastor connected to Wendy’s childhood church.

The marriage did not go smoothly for long. Reports indicate that tension surfaced almost immediately, including during their honeymoon trip to Rio de Janeiro, where the couple reportedly clashed over lifestyle differences and trust issues. Girigorie has said that Wendy’s behavior changed noticeably after the wedding, describing the shift as confusing and difficult to understand at the time.

The couple separated after approximately five months of marriage, and their divorce was finalized in 1995, roughly a year and a half after the wedding. They did not have children together.

Years later, Wendy Williams wrote about the marriage in her memoir, Wendy’s Got the Heat, describing an incident during one of their arguments that portrayed Girigorie in a negative light. Bert has firmly denied ever physically harming her. In a rare 2019 interview, he addressed the claims directly, explaining that he believed substance use may have contributed to the erratic behavior he witnessed during the marriage, something Wendy has since spoken about openly in relation to that period of her life. He also stated that he later learned, through mutual acquaintances, that infidelity may have played a role in the breakdown of the relationship.

Despite the painful nature of the split, Girigorie has generally avoided speaking negatively about his former wife in public. His comments have been measured rather than combative, and he has not used the marriage as a platform to build his own media presence, a choice that stands in contrast to how many former celebrity spouses handle public scrutiny.

Life After Divorce

Following the divorce, Bert Girigorie made a clear decision to step away from the spotlight entirely. Rather than leveraging his brief connection to a rising media personality, he returned his focus to building a stable career and a private life away from entertainment circles.

Wendy Williams, meanwhile, went on to marry Kevin Hunter in 1997. That marriage lasted more than two decades and produced her only child, Kevin Hunter Jr., born in 2000, before ending in a highly publicized divorce that was finalized around 2019 and 2020. In the years since, Wendy has been open about health challenges, including struggles with substance use and, more recently, a court-appointed guardianship that has controlled aspects of her finances and daily life since 2022. Her situation has remained a subject of ongoing legal proceedings and public interest.

Bert’s path took the opposite direction. He avoided interviews for more than two decades, declined to comment publicly on the marriage until 2019, and instead poured his energy into rebuilding his professional career, eventually laying the groundwork for the business that defines his public identity today.

Business Success with G2 Marketing Inc.

The chapter of Bert Girigorie’s life that arguably matters most to him personally is the one built entirely on his own terms. In 2010, after nearly two decades of experience in advertising and sales, he founded G2 Marketing Inc., a digital marketing and business strategy firm headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Starting an independent agency requires more than ambition. It demands industry credibility, a trustworthy client base, and a deep understanding of market dynamics, all of which Girigorie had spent years developing through his work in radio advertising and broader sales roles. As president of G2 Marketing, he now oversees strategic planning, client relationships, and business development for a firm that has operated successfully for more than fifteen years.

G2 Marketing primarily serves small and medium sized businesses that need structured support to grow their digital presence and improve customer engagement. Bert has also continued expanding his own knowledge through professional development courses, including coursework related to data processing, reflecting his effort to keep pace with the fast-changing digital marketing landscape.

G2 Marketing’s Core Service Areas Include:

• Digital marketing strategy and campaign planning
• Brand development and positioning
• Business consulting and revenue development
• Event management and promotional planning
• Direct mail and traditional advertising integration
• Client services for digital publishing and retail sectors

Under his leadership, G2 Marketing has built a reputation for delivering practical, results-oriented strategies rather than one-size-fits-all marketing packages. Client testimonials describe the firm as offering sound, strategic solutions tailored to each business’s specific challenges.

Personal Life Today

As of 2026, Bert Girigorie is approximately 62 years old and continues to live in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he grew up. He maintains a notably private lifestyle, choosing not to discuss his romantic life or personal relationships in public. There is no verified record of him having remarried or having children since his divorce from Wendy Williams.

Girigorie is known to maintain a modest presence on social media, occasionally sharing marketing insights and professional commentary rather than personal updates. He is not a frequent public figure, and he rarely, if ever, grants interviews outside of the rare occasions when his name resurfaces in connection with Wendy Williams’ ongoing media presence.

His estimated net worth, generally placed between $500,000 and $1 million, reflects steady professional growth built through decades of sales experience and entrepreneurship rather than any financial windfall connected to his former marriage. Since his income and business earnings are not publicly disclosed, this figure remains an approximation rather than a confirmed total.

Those close to the Charlotte business community describe him as disciplined, faith-oriented, and committed to his work. In professional circles, he is recognized far more for his marketing expertise and leadership at G2 Marketing than for his brief marriage decades ago, a distinction that appears to matter to him personally.

Conclusion

Bert Girigorie’s story is often reduced to a single line in someone else’s biography: the first husband of Wendy Williams. But his life reflects far more than a five-month marriage from the mid-1990s. From his upbringing in Charlotte and his education at Morehouse College, to his early career in radio advertising sales and his eventual founding of G2 Marketing Inc., Girigorie has spent the past three decades building a career defined by consistency, privacy, and professional integrity.

While Wendy Williams’ life has continued to play out in the public eye, Bert chose a different path, one centered on business, faith, and quiet stability. His story serves as a reminder that a brief brush with celebrity does not have to define an entire life, and that lasting success can be built well outside the spotlight.

FAQs

Who is Bert Girigorie?

Bert Girigorie is an American sales and marketing executive from Charlotte, North Carolina, best known as the first husband of media personality Wendy Williams.

How old is Bert Girigorie?

He was born on March 13, 1964, making him approximately 62 years old as of 2026.

When did Bert Girigorie marry Wendy Williams?

The couple married in 1994 after dating for about two years, and they separated roughly five months later.

Why did Bert Girigorie and Wendy Williams get divorced?

Reports point to strained communication, trust issues, and behavior that Girigorie described as confusing and out of character, which he later linked to possible substance use.

Does Bert Girigorie have children?

There is no public record of Bert Girigorie having children from any relationship, including his marriage to Wendy Williams.

What company does Bert Girigorie run?

He is the founder and president of G2 Marketing Inc., a digital marketing and business strategy firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

What is Bert Girigorie’s net worth?

His estimated net worth is reported to be between $500,000 and $1 million, based on his career in sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

Is Bert Girigorie married now?

There is no public record indicating that Bert Girigorie has remarried since his divorce from Wendy Williams in 1995.

Did Bert Girigorie ever speak publicly about his marriage to Wendy Williams?

Yes, he gave a rare interview in 2019 addressing claims from Wendy’s memoir and offering his own account of what went wrong.