Oprah Winfrey Says She Only Really Has Three Close Friends
If Oprah Winfrey was holding up two more fingers in that picture above, she’d be accurately showing us exactly how many close friends Oprah Winfrey has. Because according to Oprah, there are three people that she would immediately think of, should she need the answer to the question, “Be honest – do I give off a strong lizard person vibe?” While Oprah is famous for giving away cars and Ugg boots to an audience full of strangers on her Favorite Things shows, Oprah’s only given three people on this Earth the most precious gift of all: being able to call themselves one of Oprah’s favorite people.
Earlier this week, Oprah made an appearance on Hoda Kotb’s podcast, Making Space with Hoda Kotb. Well, when it comes to making space in her house for when she hosts a gathering for her closest friends, Oprah doesn’t have to exert too much energy. The three people who Oprah could sing the Golden Girls theme song to and really mean it includes Oprah’s long-term BFF Gayle King (no surprise there), Maria Shriver, and then Oprah’s personal trainer-turned-friend Bob Greene. Aside from them, Oprah really isn’t texting goofy shit to anyone else. via People magazine:
Winfrey admitted that she doesn’t have many close friendships outside of Shriver.
“I don’t have a lot of friends,” the former talk show host said. “Everybody knows Gayle [King]. There’s Gayle, there’s Maria, there’s Bob [Greene]. And that’s about it, you know? Gayle and Maria, I met around the same time; Gayle and I [have been friends for] 42 years, Maria and I [have also been friends for] 42 years.”
Oprah says she bonded with Maria while working at WJZ-TV in Baltimore together in the late 1970s. Oprah and Gayle met the same way (both working at WJZ-TV Baltimore). Oprah met Bob Greene in 2003 at a spa in Colorado. And she’s stayed good friends with them ever since. But that doesn’t mean Oprah’s heart isn’t at capacity and is turning away any new friendship applicants. She tells Hoda that she has made some new friends outside of Bob and Gayle and Maria and Oprah.
“I never really expanded that circle until recently,” she continued. “You know, I had become friends with a couple of people in my later adult life in the past five years.”
Oprah doesn’t say who she’s moved into her new less-casual but still not BFF friend circle. It’s anyone’s guess who Oprah now counts as a friend. Well, don’t just go guessing any old random name – one of those current friends is definitely not Mo’Nique. But I’m sure this vague mystery is killing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Have they officially made the transition to inner circle friendship-close? Last Christmas, Oprah showed off a lovely gift basket full of fancy wellness coffee that Oprah claimed to receive from, “my neighbor M.” Not “my friend M,” my neighbor. We might have to wait a few months to see if Oprah receives a gift this year from her “friend M and M’s husband H.” But I think they’re safely in the friend zone. Harry and Meghan already got Oprah the best gift a true friend could give this year: ratings gold!
Pic: Wenn.com/FayesVision