08:37 AM EDT 10/31/2009
Oprah Winfrey
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Patrick Swayze's Wife: I Feel Like He Hasn't Left
Originally posted 10/30/2009 12:30PM
Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi, whose marriage began in their 20s and lasted for 34 years, led one of Hollywood's storied love affairs – but the Dirty Dancing actor's widow reveals that there were times when their union teetered to the brink of breakup.
Six years ago, Niemi tells Oprah Winfrey in her first interview since Swayze's death, her husband descended into a period of heavy drinking and "very dark thoughts. "He was imploding pretty badly," she said during Friday's show, so much so that in 2003, Niemi left Swayze for a year. "I didn't think he was going to live through it and I didn't want to watch that."
But the couple reconciled and regained their happiness – only to be tested again when Swayze was diagnosed 22 months ago with pancreatic cancer and was told he had three months to live.
"It was mind numbing," Niemi says. When faced with the devastating information, "You think you're going to get these terrific illuminations," she says, but that didn't happen. "I looked around and I said, 'This is awful.' "
Niemi says she cried in front of her husband only once, and saved the rest of her tears for her close girlfriends. "I wanted him to know he was going to be okay," she tells Winfrey.
Permalink | Filed Under: Lisa Niemi, Oprah Winfrey, Patrick Swayze
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Patrick Swayze's Widow to Discuss His Death on Oprah
Originally posted 10/27/2009 02:00PM
Less than two months after the death of her husband Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, will open up to Oprah Winfrey about her life with and love for the actor – and what it was like losing him – in her first one-on-one interview since his death.
Swayze, 57, died Sept. 14 after a protracted battle with pancreatic cancer. He and Niemi, 53, were married for 34 years, meeting as teenage students at his mother's dance studio.
Niemi will appear on Friday's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, on which she will also talk about the book she co-authored with her late husband, The Time of My Life.
Niemi was also a participant Tuesday in a roundtable discussion on "Grief, Healing and Resilience" at the Women's Conference 2009 in Long Beach, Calif.
– Michael Y. Park
Permalink | Filed Under: TV News, Oprah Winfrey, Patrick Swayze
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Sarah Palin Finally to Appear on Oprah
Originally posted 10/20/2009 02:35PM
Oh, what a difference a multimillion-dollar book deal makes.
Permalink | Filed Under: TV News, Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Palin
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INSIDE STORY: Tyler Perry and Oprah Bond over Painful Pasts
Originally posted 10/10/2009 06:45PM
When Tyler Perry recently revealed a harrowing list of childhood traumas in a letter to his fans on his Web site, it seemed a necessary, if painful, confession for a man known more for his sense of humor.
Perry's revelations follow in the path of those made by one of his key inspirations – Oprah Winfrey.
After suffering depression and attempting suicide as a teenager, Perry was working an office job in 1991 when he saw an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show that would change his life. In it, Winfrey – who early in her career revealed she was verbally and physically abused by relatives – talked about how writing down one's experiences could be cathartic.
Permalink | Filed Under: Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry
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Whitney Houston: God Keeps Me Off Drugs
Originally posted 09/15/2009 01:35PM
Whitney Houston is still tempted by drugs, but instead of surrendering to the urge she relies on a higher power to see her through.
"Don't think I don't have desires for it," the Grammy winner admitted during the second part of her interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show Tuesday. "It takes me a minute to cleanse ... I have to pray it away."
On Monday's show, Houston told Winfrey that at times she was a heavy user of marijuana and rock cocaine. On Tuesday's show, she said that these days she occasionally will have a drink, but "no weed, no coke."
She takes things "one day at a time," and "if I get weak, I know who I can turn to," she said. "I know God loves me."
Permalink | Filed Under: Oprah Winfrey, Whitney Houston
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Whitney Houston Reveals Mom's Confrontation with Bobby Brown
Originally posted 09/14/2009 01:45PM
Whitney Houston sat down with Oprah recently for an anticipated, two-part tell-all interview – and on Monday afternoon fans will finally get to hear directly from the R&B diva.
Among the topics up for discussion: Houston's tumultuous life with her ex Bobby Brown.
"One day my mother [Cissy] came to my house ... with these sheriffs," Houston, 46, tells Winfrey, 55, during the conversation. "She said, 'If you move, Bobby, they're going to take you down.' And he stood there, like he was scared," Houston says.
"She said, 'Let's go,' " Houston continues. "'I'm not losing you to Satan. I'm not doing this. I want my daughter. I want to see that glow in your eyes – that light in your eyes.' "
Permalink | Filed Under: Oprah Winfrey, Whitney Houston
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Jay-Z Was Addicted to Thrill of Drug Dealing
Originally posted 09/09/2009 01:40PM
It wasn't the crack. It was the job.
"You become addicted to the feeling, the uncertainty and adrenaline and danger of that lifestyle," Jay-Z tells Oprah Winfrey in the October issue of O Magazine of his former life as a drug dealer.
Jay-Z, real name Shawn Corey Carter, was only 13 when he started selling crack in his crime-plagued neighborhood in Brooklyn, and yet it never dawned on him that his situation was unusual, because anyone who became successful never returned to the projects to share his or her wisdom.
Permalink | Filed Under: Jay-Z, Oprah Winfrey
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Jay-Z Knows His Last-Minute Wedding Offended Some
Originally posted 09/03/2009 01:30PM
What's the blueprint for keeping your wedding a secret? Just ask Jay-Z – Oprah did.
"Late planning!" he tells Winfrey in an interview for the October issue of O magazine.
Although his marriage to Beyoncé last year wasn't a complete secret – the couple created a buzz when they took out a marriage license days before their private ceremony – he says "very few" people knew about it.
"The sad part is that we offended some," Jay-Z, 39, admits of the last-minute event. But, "people who love you understand," he says. "Because at the end of the day, it's your day."
Permalink | Filed Under: Jay-Z, Oprah Winfrey
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Erin Andrews Calls Peeping-Tom Video a 'Nightmare'
Originally posted 09/01/2009 11:50AM
There's been a clampdown on the secretly filmed video of ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews in the nude in a hotel room that was leaked in mid-June, but she says her ordeal has never ended, thanks to the continuing media coverage.
"You know, people have a story that they have to cover," she tells Oprah Winfrey in what she calls her "first and last" interview on the subject. "But I just felt like I was continuing to be victimized. I did nothing wrong."
Andrews, 31, recalls the first time she saw the video of herself changing her clothes without knowing that a camera was recording her every move.
"It's been a nightmare," she says on The Oprah Winfrey Show airing Friday, Sept. 11. "I opened up the computer [and] could feel my heart pounding."
Permalink | Filed Under: Oprah Winfrey
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Whitney Houston to Appear on Oprah Winfrey
Originally posted 08/19/2009 06:05PM
Whitney Houston is coming to Oprah Winfrey's famous couch.
The Grammy Award-winning singer, 46, whose much-anticipated upcoming album, I Look to You will be released Aug. 31, will sit down with the talk show queen for her first interview in almost seven years.
Calling it "the most anticipated music interview of the decade," Winfrey, 55, will welcome Houston as her first guest on the The Oprah Winfrey Show's 24th season, which airs Sept. 14.
Permalink | Filed Under: TV News, Oprah Winfrey, Whitney Houston
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