's Message Tuesday January 8, 2008

[Guest guest]

's Daily Message TuesdayJanuary 08, 2008OPRAH

A few days before I left for my trip to New York City, I was watching the news. This newscaster announced that they had a clip of Oprah Winfrey when she was hosting a local show back in Baltimore, many years ago. He promised to show the clip later in the newscast. He said we`d see Oprah and the famous celebrity guest who was on one of her earlier shows.

So now I`m saying to myself, Hey, I wanna see that!

Well, they teased the Oprah clip all through the newscast and towards the end of the show, they asked, "Are you ready to see how Oprah looked years ago on her local TV show?"

As the clip came on, first they showed Oprah doing the news. But, after that, she changed into a leotard and tights and announced, "Please welcome our special guest... !

I sat there dumbfounded! I was looking at Oprah and me from the early 80`s! We both had afros and laughed so much together. I also told her back then that if she ever needed help losing weight, I would always be there for her.

After the clip ended, I sat there and cried my eyes out. See, I have not talked to, seen or heard form Oprah for twenty years now. It pains me to write this message. I have held this all in for those whole twenty years.

When Oprah got her national TV show, she asked me on. And it was so much fun being with her again. When I did my Silver Foxes video, back in the 80`s, with my mother and other celebrity parents, Oprah had us all on her show. And, again, we all had a fantastic time!

Later that year, Oprah decided to lose weight. And to lose it, she went on a popular weight-loss program of the time called Optifast. And with it, Oprah was losing weight and losing it very, very quickly. Before you knew it, you were looking at Oprah and could barely recognize her!

Shortly after her weight-loss success, a columnist from a New York paper, while interviewing me, asked what I thought of Oprah`s weight-loss success. I told her that I had gone on Optifast myself, in the past and also dropped a great deal of weight. But the minute I went off the program, all of the weight I`d lost came back immediately.

I told the columnist that my advice for Oprah was that she had to always eat healthy and exercise regularly to maintain her weight loss. Otherwise, she, like me, would gain all of the weight back.

When that columnist`s article was published, the headline read, Thinks Oprah Will Gain Weight Back. And the day that column came out, it seems was also the day that Oprah erased me from her life. And that has lasted now for 20 years.

I was very hurt the way that columnist distorted my words. And I know what she printed must have hurt Oprah, too. I tried to make amends, to apologize and to say I`m sorry. But I never received a response back.

So, like I said, I`ve held this all in for so long. Many of you have asked why you never see me on Oprah`s show or why you never see the two of us together. And when I get asked that question, I never really know what to say. So I say nothing. So that is my "True Confession" for today. I needed to share this story with someone.

A couple of months ago, a writer from Oprah`s magazine, O, wanted to do an interview with me. I was a little shocked to receive the call and told the writer that I really didn`t think Oprah wanted me in her magazine. The writer told me that she would check on that and call me back. But she never did.

So what a dilemma to be in. I`ve done everything I could to patch things up with Oprah but nothing`s ever really happened. I tell you this story because maybe something similar has happened to you. And maybe you`re also feeling the pain of rejection. When we feel this way, all we can do is hope that, somewhere down the line, we are forgiven by those who have removed us from their lives.

Love,