Entertainment

Oprah Says She Only Has 3 Good Friends And Honestly, Relatable

by Christina Marfice
Andrew Chin/Getty

If not even Oprah knows how to make friends as an adult, what hope is there for the rest of us?

Oprah definitely has more of most things than us normal people. More money? Oh, absolutely. More cars? Yeah, I would assume so. More houses? Yep, I’m assuming she owns at least one, which means she has more than I do. More Emmy awards? For sure, I don’t have any of those, either. But despair not, fellow normals. There’s one thing that you and I just may have on Queen Oprah herself: We may have more friends than she does.

During a recent appearance on an episode of the Making Space With Hoda Kotb podcast, Oprah revealed a pretty surprising fact: she doesn’t “have a lot of friends.” In fact, she only has three close friends. I have two group chats that have more participants than that, so excuse me while I quickly bask in having bested Oprah at something, even though I really, really wish it could have been money.

In the interview, Oprah explained that she “never really expanded” her very tight circle of friends “until recently.”

“You know, I had become friends with a couple of people in my later adult life in the past five years,” she added.

But before that, the inner circle of Oprah’s life consisted of just three people: Maria Shriver, Gayle King, and personal trainer Bob Greene.

“That’s about it, you know?” Oprah said, adding that she’s been friends with her longtime besties, Shriver and King, for over 40 years. Honestly, this makes Oprah maybe one of the most relatable celebrities we’ve ever heard of. It’s hard AF to make friends as an adult. Not even Oprah knows how to do it. That should make us all feel better about spending the occasional Friday night with no plans, wondering where adults even go to meet other adults they can hang out with. Bars? A pottery class? Please, someone help me, I’m genuinely asking.

During the interview, Oprah even told the sweet story of how she and Shriver met all those years ago.

“I first met her in the bathroom [while working at] WJZ-TV early in the morning. I was coming in to do the morning cut-ins and she was doing evening magazine and had been up all night. [She] was in the bathroom, literally, splashing water on her face, and we started a conversation,” she said. “I forever think that that was a divine moment that happened because she was one of my true, grounded friendships that carried me through my entire career.”

There you have it. The best friends are sleep-deprived girls in public bathrooms. You heard it from Oprah. Now let’s all go make some new besties.