Oprah Winfrey is known for her infectious smile and the infamous scream when guests on her show are about to be gifted.
But on Friday, when the media mogul met with a carefully selected and pre-approved group of journalists, we were treated to more than just her wit, warmth and charm.
Nervous energy filled the room as we waited to interview the woman who has dined with presidents and hosted royalty; the go-to interviewer for Hollywood’s biggest celebrities.
Flanked by two bodyguards and trailing a team of aides, Winfrey took her seat and broke into song, as if to put us at ease. “I’m so good, I’m so, so good.”
We’re told we only have 15 minutes, but Winfrey smiled mischievously and said: “If you’re really good, you’ll get 20 minutes, because what can you say in 15 minutes?”
She laughed, leant forward, and shared the story of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (Owlag), which this week hosted a conference on the impact of trauma.
Educators, psychologists and others paid R2,500 a head to attend the event at Midrand’s Gallagher Convention Centre, titled “What Happened to You?”
The Winfrey girls’ school in Meyerton, which was founded in 2007, has its origins in a visit she made to Nelson Mandela’s home in Qunu in 2002. Her planned new home in California was still under construction, so Winfrey decided to spend Christmas in South Africa.
Mandela insisted she stay at his house during her trip 21 years ago. Winfrey laughs as she describes how this initially made her nervous because she wondered what she’d have to talk to the statesman about for 10 days.