R.I.P.: Fez Whatley, Best Known For The 'Ron & Fez' Radio Show

Fez Whatley (March 31, 1964- August 13, 2021)

Todd Hillier, better known by his on-air name Fez Marie Whatley on "The Ron and Fez Show," died Friday night of heart failure. 

He was 57, reports The Wrap.   His former hosting partner, Ron Bennington, announced the news on Instagram.

“We lost our sweet Fez Whatley last night. His heart finally gave out,” Bennington wrote. “We are devastated, but we will always remember the laughter through our tears.  Our thoughts are with his family who loved him the most and with the people who knew him as a voice on the radio. #fezwhatley.”

Bennington has kept fans up to date on Whatley’s health problems, posting photos of him laying in a hospital bed in March after just suffering “another massive heart attack.”

“Fez had another massive heart attack this week,” Bennington wrote. “He flatlined on Tuesday, but was able to be revived by doctors. He spent a few days on a ventilator and is now breathing on his own.  His sister snapped these pics of him while he was on the vent, and Fez is oddly proud of them.

In 1990, Whatley was an on-air personality at WYNF in Tampa Bay and producer and contributor for the syndicated morning program, The Ron and Ron Show. During this time, he developed the Fez Whatley moniker which a reporter in The Orlando Sentinel described as "an effeminate, lisping character".  After the show disbanded due to being cancelled for low ratings after the departure of Ron Diaz, Whatley then teamed up with Ron Bennington as a co-host to create The Ron and Fez Show on WKRO FM, a small Daytona Beach  rock station. After a relatively short stint there, they then retitled the show: Ron and Fez Dot Com and premiered on overnights on New York City radio station WNEW FM on April 17, 2000.

Fez Whatley

Whatley and Bennington continued on WNEW until the end of 2002, as well as being simulcast to a few other FM markets, including WJFK-FM in Washington, DC. After being canceled in New York City, as well as the other markets, they continued to broadcast from WJFK FM, and relocated to DC.

On July 19, 2004 Whatley and Bennington unceremoniously returned to the Florida airwaves in the 1 PM to 3 PM slot on Tampa Bay, Florida's The Buzz WBAA 1010 AM, a relatively low wattage station which adopted a new talk format, and abandoned its former sports talk format. The duo didn't produce well in the ratings however, and their tenure was short lived.

The Ron and Fez Show moved to XM Satellite Radio on September 12, 2005 after leaving WJFK 106.7 FM in Washington D.C.

On December 20, 2006 The Ron and Fez Show premiered on 92.3 Free FM in New York City from 6 to 9 PM, while still holding on to their XM Satellite Radio show from Noon to 3 PM.  The Ron and Fez Show was discontinued when WFNY reverted to a rock format as WXRK on May 24, 2007.

On April 1, 2015, Whatley announced his retirement from radio. His final appearance on The Ron and Fez Show took place two days later.