Oprah is known to get the details on many through interviews, but this time its through friendship. Oprah and Doria Ragland are so close, they have even spent hours together.
Before the extravagant Royal Wedding, which Winfrey attended, the media mogul made headlines for spending the afternoon with Markle’s mom, where the pair spent their day snacking and doing yoga.
Speaking with ET’s Nischelle Turner on the red carpet at the premiere of her new series Love Is __ in Los Angeles on Monday, Winfrey opened up about their relaxing time together, and rebuffed rumors that she had showered Ragland with gifts in the hopes of getting an exclusive interview with her.
“The story was that Meghan’s mom had come to my house and she left laden with gifts,” Winfrey recalled. “You know what the gifts were? First of all, she’s great at yoga, so I said, ‘Bring your yoga mat and your sneaks in case we just want to do yoga on the lawn.’ So one of the bags was a yoga mat and the other was lunch.”
According to the Wrinkle in Time star, she and Ragland enjoyed a dessert made from fresh kumquats.
“She said, ‘I love kumquats,’ and I said, ‘I have a kumquat tree! You want some kumquats?’ So it was a basket of kumquats, people,” Winfrey explained. “For all of the people who said I am getting her gifts and I’m trying to bribe her for an interview — they were kumquats. If kumquats can get you an interview, I’m all for it!”
Weeks after their get-together, Winfrey and Ragland were both in England watching Markle walk down the aisle for her wedding to Prince Harry in one of the most highly anticipated events in years.
The whole experience was described by Winfrey as “transformative.”
“It was more than a wedding, I thought,” she explained. “It was a cultural moment. And you could not be there or watching on television… and not feel that there was a shift that just happened in the middle of it.”
“I think it’s bigger than them and I think it bodes well for hope for all of us,” Winfrey added.
Winfrey’s new series, Love Is __, premieres June 19 on OWN.
