Oprah Winfrey loves a good story—but not every work of fiction is a must-read.
The 62-year-old TV titan and Stedman Graham are not planning a "dream wedding" or a "$4 million honeymoon," contrary to a tabloid report. Rumors began circulating last week after a source told Star, "Oprah was making breakfast for Stedman when he casually made a joke about getting married, and it suddenly dawned on her how Stedman has never asked her for anything or pressured her in any way, and how she's been able to do whatever she wants. That's when Oprah connected the dots and realized it was her turn to show how much she cares about what he wants. I heard she said 'yes,' and Stedman couldn't believe it. He thought she was joking with him!" To Winfrey's surprise, some of her friends believed the report, so she set the record straight Sunday. "6 people who know me well have called today congratulating me or surprised they weren't invited to my wedding," she wrote on Twitter. "IT' s NOT TRUE!!"
Winfrey and Graham became an item in 1986, and a few years into the relationship, the businessman proposed. Even then, Winfrey knew she didn't want to tie the knot. "The moment he asked me to marry him I was like: 'Oh God, now I actually have to get married?'" she recalled during a 2015 Super Soul Sunday interview with Shonda Rhimes. Winfrey and Graham agreed to postpone the 1993 ceremony, but neither ever mentioned it again. "What I realized is, I don't want to be married, because I could not have the life that I created for myself. I couldn't do it."
It's a topic Winfrey addressed many times over the years during The Oprah Winfrey Show's 25-year run, as well as in various issues of O, The Oprah Magazine. She is committed to Graham, and during a Lorraine interview in 2013, she explained why their partnership works. "It's not because I never had time—if I wanted to get married, I could've made the time. I'm not a traditional woman and I haven't had a traditional life, and I think that had Stedman and I gotten married, we certainly wouldn't have stayed married," Winfrey said. "If you were to ask him, he would say the same thing. He's a pretty traditional man. I've taught him to be non-traditional."
Winfrey had concerns about how marriage would change her life, as well as how it would possibly affect her relationship with Graham. "The very idea of what it means to be a wife and the responsibility and sacrifice that carries—I wouldn't have held that very well. The show was the true love of my life. It took up all of my energy," she told host Lorraine Kelly. "For so many years I had that day job that occupied my whole life, so at the end of the Oprah show one of my final comments was, 'This show has been the love of my life.' That is absolutely the truth."
In 2013, after attending Tina Turner's wedding, Winfrey revisited the idea of tying the knot. "Tina was like, 'Oprah, you need to do this. You need to do it.' I was just thinking, 'Well, OK, would things really be different?'" she revealed to Access Hollywood. "And no, I don't think so."
Winfrey reiterated her previous stance on marriage, saying, "If you ever interviewed him, he would tell you that had we married, we would not be together today. Because he's a traditional man and this is a very untraditional relationship. I think it's acceptable as a relationship, but if I had the title 'wife,' I think there would be other expectations for what a wife is and what a wife does."