Oprah talks about being very excited to be on the show, sitting on the tarmac in South Africa after forgetting her passport, Jimmy carrying a photo of her around in case of emergency, being in front of a studio audience, her new special on ABC “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution,” what motivated her to cover the subject, why being overweight can be a disease, working at a radio station in Nashville when she was 16 years old, turning 70 years old, what Stedman got her, what she gave him for his birthday, why she decided to quit Weight Watchers, where she stands on Daylight Saving Time, receiving the Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Awards, and she addresses various rumors that have been spread about her over the years.

Oprah’s Unbelievable Airport Incident, A Jaw-Dropping Comeback, and the Secret Behind Her Transformation—You Won’t Believe What She Revealed

Oprah Winfrey is no stranger to the spotlight, but her recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! delivered unexpected stories that left the audience stunned. From an airport debacle where she was stuck on a tarmac for seven hours—despite airport staff eagerly taking selfies with her—to an unfiltered moment with a stranger who refused to believe she was Oprah, the media mogul had some jaw-dropping tales to tell.

But that wasn’t all. Oprah also opened up about something deeply personal—her journey through excruciating pain, the life-changing decision that transformed her health, and the unexpected path it led her down.

In 2021, after struggling for years, she underwent knee surgery that forced her to start from scratch—walker, crutches, cane, and a vow to herself: If I can walk again, I will use my body to its fullest potential. What started as a painful battle became an inspiring journey, where every extra step felt like a personal victory.

Her biggest revelation? The realization that obesity is a disease, something even she hadn’t fully accepted. “I had to prove to myself I could do it my way,” she shared, admitting she resisted weight-loss medications despite their increasing popularity.

Oprah’s stories of perseverance, self-discovery, and even hilarious misadventures prove once again why she remains one of the most captivating figures of our time. But the real question is—what’s next for her? If this journey has taught her anything, it’s that reinvention is always possible.

And for those who still doubt she’s Oprah? Well, let’s just say—she’s got receipts.

Oprah Winfrey Reveals She Uses Weight-Loss Medication as a ‘Maintenance Tool’: ‘I’m Absolutely Done with the Shaming’ (Exclusive)

“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift,” Winfrey tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story

Oprah Winfrey is no stranger to scrutiny over her weight. For as long as she has been in the public eye, the icon’s body journey has played out in the media, on magazine covers and on episodes of her own eponymous hit talk show that ran for 25 seasons.

“It was public sport to make fun of me for 25 years,” Winfrey tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “I have been blamed and shamed, and I blamed and shamed myself.”

One hurtful moment came early in her career, when she landed on acerbic fashion critic Mr. Blackwell’s list. “I was on the cover of some magazine and it said, ‘Dumpy, Frumpy and Downright Lumpy,’ ” recalls the co-producer of the new filmThe Color Purple. (Winfrey starred in the original 1985 film.) “I didn’t feel angry. I felt sad. I felt hurt. I swallowed the shame. I accepted that it was my fault.”

No more, she says.

Oprah Winfrey Opens Up About the Moments That Changed Her Life

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

Winfrey, who turns 70 next month, is optimistic that she now has a better handle on how to maintain a healthy weight long-term and rid herself of shame once and for all. Using a holistic approach that includes regular exercise and other lifestyle tweaks, Winfrey confirms she has also added a weight-loss medication to her regimen.

Weight fluctuations “occupied five decades of space in my brain, yo-yoing and feeling like why can’t I just conquer this thing, believing willpower was my failing,” says Winfrey, whose dogged rehabilitation after knee surgery in 2021 kick-started what has been steady weight loss over the last two years.

Oprah Winfrey and Color Purple star Fantasia Barrino on November 16, 2023.Randy Shropshire/Variety via Getty

“After knee surgery, I started hiking and setting new distance goals each week. I could eventually hike three to five miles every day and a 10-mile straight-up hike on weekends,” she says. “I felt stronger, more fit and more alive than I’d felt in years.”

Now, she says, “I eat my last meal at 4 o’clock, drink a gallon of water a day, and use the WeightWatchers principles of counting points. I had an awareness of [weight-loss] medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way.”

She adds, “I was actually recommending it to people long before I was on it myself.”

The turning point for Winfrey’s approach to using pharmaceutical aids herself came in July during a taped panel conversation with weight loss experts and clinicians, called The State of Weight and part of Oprah Daily’s Life You Want series.

Oprah Winfrey at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022.Arthur Mola/Shutterstock

“I had the biggest aha along with many people in that audience,” she recalls of the discussion, which posted online in September. “I realized I’d been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control.”

She adds, “Obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower — it’s about the brain.”

Oprah Winfrey Says She Wrestled with Thoughts on Ozempic, Wegovy: ‘If I Take the Drug, That’s the Easy Way Out’

Once she reconciled the science, Winfrey says she “released my own shame about it” and consulted her doctor, who went on to prescribe a weight-loss medication. “I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing,” she says, opting not to name the specific drug she takes.

“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for. I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”

Oprah Winfrey at the Essence Festival in June 2023.Soul Brother/Soul B Photos/Shutterstock

Winfrey is aware of the buzz around her body size, especially as the use of medications like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro for weight loss has surged in popularity. But she stresses it has not been a magic bullet or singular solution.

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“It’s everything,” she says of her all-encompassing health and fitness routine. “I know everybody thought I was on it, but I worked so damn hard. I know that if I’m not also working out and vigilant about all the other things, it doesn’t work for me.”

She took the medication before Thanksgiving “because I knew I was going to have two solid weeks of eating,” she says, and “instead of gaining eight pounds like I did last year, I gained half a pound . . . It quiets the food noise.”

Though she’s seven pounds away from her goal weight of 160 lbs., Winfrey says “it’s not about the number.” Instead, she’s content building on the progress she has made during the two years since her surgery. “It was a second shot for me to live a more vital and vibrant life,” she says.

Oprah Winfrey at ELLE’s 2023 Women in Hollywood Celebration on December 5, 2023.Phillip Faraone/Getty

“In Hawaii, I live on a mountain, and there’s this big hill — I used to look out the window every morning and say, ‘God, one day I want to walk up that mountain.’ Last year over Christmas I did it . . . It felt like redemption.”