It can't be easy finding out that your long lost sister is Oprah Winfrey and then appearing on her show in front of millions. However, that is easy as pie compared to meeting the TV queen's longtime best friend Gayle King. "I can't wait to meet Patricia," she told ABC.
"Gayle must have mixed feelings about the arrival of Patricia," an insider tells me. "Of course she wants nothing but the best for Oprah, but there has to be just a little tiny part of Gayle that is asking, 'What now?'"
Oprah announced she had a half-sister a few days ago, but already her fans, and Gayle, are chattering about what role Patricia will play in the star's life.
"Gayle is very protective about her relationship with Oprah and is not used to sharing her with anyone," a friend of Gayle's tells me, adding that the new addition to the family could be a "bigger adjustment" for Gayle than for Oprah.
But as Gayle has already said, Patricia has proved she's an amazing person.
"This is extraordinary that somebody would have this information about Oprah, who as you know has been sold out on many occasions by friends, by co-workers, in some cases family," Gayle said. "Patricia wasn't trying to get Oprah, she was trying to find her mother ... having Oprah as a sister, a half-sister, was a bonus."
This could be a tough adjustment for you, Gayle, but don't worry love -- there is enough room in the great O's heart for both of you.
Showing posts with label Oprah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oprah. Show all posts
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Oprah's New Half-Sister Turned Down Tabloid Cash
Oprah Winfrey stunned viewers on Monday with news that she recently discovered a half-sister she never knew about, but that's only part of the amazing story. Now it turns out that the talk-show queen's sibling, Patricia, cared so much about her sister's privacy and reputation that she turned down a blockbuster offer from a tabloid magazine to expose the truth.
"All Patricia wanted was the truth," an insider tells me. "She wasn't interested in selling her story even for a million dollars. She just wanted to know who she was, where she came from and if she had any brothers or sisters. She had no idea when she started this search she would end up being Oprah Winfrey's half-sister."
Oprah Winfrey promised to reveal a huge family secret on her show, and she didn't disappoint. The queen of all media introduced Patricia in an emotional and jaw-dropping hour of television. Patricia and Oprah share a mother, Vernita Lee, who had kept her pregnancy with her third daughter a secret all these years after giving up Patricia for adoption when Oprah was only 9 years old.
Confusingly, Oprah's other half-sister, who died in 2003, was also named Patricia, but her mom said she did not name the daughter she gave away.
Resourceful Patricia started the process of finding out her family history after seeing her then-unknown mother in a TV interview detailing facts that Patricia knew matched her birth mother. A DNA test finally confirmed Patricia was in fact Oprah's half-sister. This was in 2007. Since then, Patricia tried and tried to contact Oprah, but being the highly private person she is, this proved difficult until November of last year. They met, fittingly, on Thanksgiving Day.
"No one knows what the future holds for the family. Patricia doesn't want a dime from Oprah and certainly wasn't going to take money from a tabloid whose offers are now pouring in," an insider tells me.
And what really would an interview with Oprah's half-sister be worth? "The starting point would be 1 million," one influential tabloid editor tells me.
Patricia, you did the right thing. Who needs a million when you have the golden goose?
"All Patricia wanted was the truth," an insider tells me. "She wasn't interested in selling her story even for a million dollars. She just wanted to know who she was, where she came from and if she had any brothers or sisters. She had no idea when she started this search she would end up being Oprah Winfrey's half-sister."
Oprah Winfrey promised to reveal a huge family secret on her show, and she didn't disappoint. The queen of all media introduced Patricia in an emotional and jaw-dropping hour of television. Patricia and Oprah share a mother, Vernita Lee, who had kept her pregnancy with her third daughter a secret all these years after giving up Patricia for adoption when Oprah was only 9 years old.
Confusingly, Oprah's other half-sister, who died in 2003, was also named Patricia, but her mom said she did not name the daughter she gave away.
Resourceful Patricia started the process of finding out her family history after seeing her then-unknown mother in a TV interview detailing facts that Patricia knew matched her birth mother. A DNA test finally confirmed Patricia was in fact Oprah's half-sister. This was in 2007. Since then, Patricia tried and tried to contact Oprah, but being the highly private person she is, this proved difficult until November of last year. They met, fittingly, on Thanksgiving Day.
"No one knows what the future holds for the family. Patricia doesn't want a dime from Oprah and certainly wasn't going to take money from a tabloid whose offers are now pouring in," an insider tells me.
And what really would an interview with Oprah's half-sister be worth? "The starting point would be 1 million," one influential tabloid editor tells me.
Patricia, you did the right thing. Who needs a million when you have the golden goose?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Oprah's Still Full of Surprises
The big news revealed by Oprah Winfrey's on her show Monday – she has a long-lost half-sister – certainly packed surprise along with the requisite emotion. But in some respects, the show shouldn’t have been all that much of a shock.
After a quarter-century of reunions, self-help segments and weepy confessionals, viewers should hardly be surprised that Winfrey can still pull off a stunner of show – especially when she's sharing a piece of her life.
Winfrey, who said she decided to go public with the news before it could be leaked to the press, also clearly is determined to go out on top when her daytime show comes to an end in September. She's leaving to tend fulltime to her new baby: the Oprah Winfrey Network, which went on the air this month.
It's significant that Winfrey didn't save the reunion for a special on OWN, whose high debut ratings quickly dropped. She certainly knows her old-school platform still wields more clout – and that the publicity can only help her cable outfit.
Winfrey is trying to expand her foothold amid a rapidly changing media and talk show landscape. Larry King is done with CNN and Regis Philbin is on his way out. Like Winfrey, both showed great staying power. Both septuagenarians say they're not retiring, but King's days as a major force in broadcasting are over and Philbin's likely will end with his final signoff on “Live! With Regis and Kelly.”
Winfrey, at 56, is determined that her next act will be her greatest as she constantly pushes OWN as our TV-paved path to “self-realization.” But the touchy-feely, New-Age-for-the-masses speak belies what Winfrey proved Monday: She’s the queen of daytime talk because she knows how to produce compelling TV that gets people talking.
Winfrey, who only recently learned of her half-sister's existence, called the discovery the "miracles of all miracles." That's a bit of an overstatement, but there's little doubt many viewers' heartstrings were plucked during the show, a tearjerker that was handled with class, largely devoid of the stench of exploitation.
"I thought nothing could surprise me anymore," Winfrey said. "But let me tell you, I was wrong."
Monday's show might prove more memorable than her previous most-talked about episodes - Free cars for everybody! We're going to Australia! That’s because her program always has worked best not when it turns into a game show, but when it taps into anger, shock, sadness, longing, controlled confrontation and catharsis.
And the show is at its strongest, as it was Monday, when Winfrey’s at center stage – which should surprise nobody.
After a quarter-century of reunions, self-help segments and weepy confessionals, viewers should hardly be surprised that Winfrey can still pull off a stunner of show – especially when she's sharing a piece of her life.
Winfrey, who said she decided to go public with the news before it could be leaked to the press, also clearly is determined to go out on top when her daytime show comes to an end in September. She's leaving to tend fulltime to her new baby: the Oprah Winfrey Network, which went on the air this month.
It's significant that Winfrey didn't save the reunion for a special on OWN, whose high debut ratings quickly dropped. She certainly knows her old-school platform still wields more clout – and that the publicity can only help her cable outfit.
Winfrey is trying to expand her foothold amid a rapidly changing media and talk show landscape. Larry King is done with CNN and Regis Philbin is on his way out. Like Winfrey, both showed great staying power. Both septuagenarians say they're not retiring, but King's days as a major force in broadcasting are over and Philbin's likely will end with his final signoff on “Live! With Regis and Kelly.”
Winfrey, at 56, is determined that her next act will be her greatest as she constantly pushes OWN as our TV-paved path to “self-realization.” But the touchy-feely, New-Age-for-the-masses speak belies what Winfrey proved Monday: She’s the queen of daytime talk because she knows how to produce compelling TV that gets people talking.
Winfrey, who only recently learned of her half-sister's existence, called the discovery the "miracles of all miracles." That's a bit of an overstatement, but there's little doubt many viewers' heartstrings were plucked during the show, a tearjerker that was handled with class, largely devoid of the stench of exploitation.
"I thought nothing could surprise me anymore," Winfrey said. "But let me tell you, I was wrong."
Monday's show might prove more memorable than her previous most-talked about episodes - Free cars for everybody! We're going to Australia! That’s because her program always has worked best not when it turns into a game show, but when it taps into anger, shock, sadness, longing, controlled confrontation and catharsis.
And the show is at its strongest, as it was Monday, when Winfrey’s at center stage – which should surprise nobody.
Is Oprah Unhappy With Sarah Ferguson's Show?
A good rule of thumb when working for Oprah Winfrey: Don't bore the boss!
Sarah Ferguson, star of an upcoming reality show for Winfrey's new OWN network, is reportedly being asked to go back and shoot more compelling footage before 'Finding Sarah' debuts. Scheduled to air this spring, the series is allegedly being postponed, according to RadarOnline.
"Oprah isn't happy with the show...She found it boring...and has ordered reshoots to make it harder hitting, and more revealing," an insider tells the U.K.'s Daily Mail.
A spokesperson for OWN confirmed the delay: "As of now, we're anticipating that it will premiere in the summer."
So how did the duchess, one of the most scandalous rule-breakers among contemporary British royals, lose her edge on her way to launching a comeback, via an Oprah-blessed series? In theory, watching Ferguson rehab her life seems like a winner of a premise -- especially considering that her most famous on-camera 'scene' in recent memory was last year's undercover sting in which she was caught trying to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, in exchange for more than half a million dollars.
Instead, the OWN show has apparently underwhelmed Ferguson's new boss, so far. "Oprah is very hands-on, and is over-seeing 'Finding Sarah' personally," says the Mail's source. "She wants the series to be the very best it can be. Sarah had also said the cameras would have access to members of her family, including her daughters, but we are finding it hard to get them to be part of it."
The Duchess, when announcing her involvement in 'Finding Sarah,' said in a September press release, "I'm doing this because I need to heal my mind, body and spirit....After 22 years of raising my two amazing daughters, it's time for me to mother myself. My hope is that sharing my journey will help someone else."
Sarah Ferguson, star of an upcoming reality show for Winfrey's new OWN network, is reportedly being asked to go back and shoot more compelling footage before 'Finding Sarah' debuts. Scheduled to air this spring, the series is allegedly being postponed, according to RadarOnline.
"Oprah isn't happy with the show...She found it boring...and has ordered reshoots to make it harder hitting, and more revealing," an insider tells the U.K.'s Daily Mail.
A spokesperson for OWN confirmed the delay: "As of now, we're anticipating that it will premiere in the summer."
So how did the duchess, one of the most scandalous rule-breakers among contemporary British royals, lose her edge on her way to launching a comeback, via an Oprah-blessed series? In theory, watching Ferguson rehab her life seems like a winner of a premise -- especially considering that her most famous on-camera 'scene' in recent memory was last year's undercover sting in which she was caught trying to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, in exchange for more than half a million dollars.
Instead, the OWN show has apparently underwhelmed Ferguson's new boss, so far. "Oprah is very hands-on, and is over-seeing 'Finding Sarah' personally," says the Mail's source. "She wants the series to be the very best it can be. Sarah had also said the cameras would have access to members of her family, including her daughters, but we are finding it hard to get them to be part of it."
The Duchess, when announcing her involvement in 'Finding Sarah,' said in a September press release, "I'm doing this because I need to heal my mind, body and spirit....After 22 years of raising my two amazing daughters, it's time for me to mother myself. My hope is that sharing my journey will help someone else."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)