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Oprah Reveals Why She Never Married

Oprah Reveals Why She Never Married
Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham at an even in Atlanta in October. (Paul R. Giunta/Getty Images)

By    |   Thursday, 16 January 2020 10:18 AM EST

Oprah Winfrey has never been married. She was briefly engaged to longtime partner Stedman Graham in 1993, but never made it to the altar. That sparked wild speculation for years.

The 65-year-old media mogul faces questions about why she never married on a regular basis and now she is finally setting the record straight in an essay published Wednesday in O Magazine.

"For years, there were hundreds of tabloid stories, weekly, on whether we would marry," she wrote of her relationship with Graham, who she met in 1986.

Winfrey admitted that, when he did propose, she immediately had her doubts.

"I realized I didn't actually want a marriage. I wanted to be asked. I wanted to know he felt I was worthy of being his missus, but I didn't want the sacrifices, the compromises, the day-in-day-out commitment required to make a marriage work. My life with the show was my priority, and we both knew it."

Winfrey is convinced that their relationship would not have lasted if they had decided to get married. Instead of tying the knot, they chose to build "a spiritual partnership" between equals "for the purpose of spiritual growth." 

Winfrey told People late last year: "At one point in Chicago, I had bought an additional apartment because I was thinking, 'Well, if we get married, I’m going to need room for children,'"

She soon realized she did not have the ability to "compartmentalize" the way other women did, which is why she had "the highest regard for women who choose to be at home [with] their kids." 

Winfrey said she did not know how they did it "all day long" and would probably not be able to do the same.

Her career took top priority and Winfrey never looked back on the decision.

"I have not had one regret about that," she said. "I also believe that part of the reason why I don’t have regrets is because I got to fulfill it in the way that was best for me."

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Zoe Papadakis

Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


TheWire
Oprah Winfrey has never been married. She was briefly engaged to longtime partner Stedman Graham in 1993, but never made it to the altar. That sparked wild speculation for years.
oprah, winfrey, stedman, graham, reveal, marry
354
2020-18-16
Thursday, 16 January 2020 10:18 AM
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