Oprah Feared She’d ‘Never Make It’ to Age 70

Oprah Winfrey appeared on the August 20, 2024 episode of the Today Show. (Credit: YouTube/NBC)

Oprah Winfrey sat down with Today show weatherman Al Roker and offered him advice on aging.

Winfrey — who turned 70 years old in January — shared in the interview that as a young girl, she never imagined she would make it to age 60, let alone 70.

“I’m excited to make every number. Because I remember many years ago as a young girl, I always thought that I would never make it to the 60s or 70s,” Winfrey said during the Tuesday, Aug. 20, broadcast.

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The media mogul said she felt that way because as a child, she was living on welfare in Milwaukee with her mother, and their circumstances were challenging.

“And what I now know, that if I had stayed in those circumstances, I probably wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be here healthy and strong and vibrant,” Winfrey explained.

Roker later asked the media mogul about gratitude and if she’s more grateful now than she was twenty years ago. 

“I would not say that it’s deeper,” she said. “I would say that there is a sense of knowing that there isn’t as much time left, and I am at peace with knowing that.”

Roker, who just turned 70 himself on Tuesday, ended the interview by asking Winfrey her opinion on being a septuagenarian.

“Don’t be scared,” Winfrey advised.

Watch the video below: