Oprah Winfrey has revealed starting her own TV network led her to the brink of a nervous breakdown.
The 59-year-old TV mogul quit her popular talk show in 2011 to start the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
The channel struggled with ratings from the start and by March 2012, it had losses estimated at $330 million, taking a devastating toll on Oprah’s mental health.
In typical Oprah style, she struggled on, ignoring her feelings of anxiety and panic, until a mid-2012 interview with film director Jason Russell.
“He was talking about having a nervous breakdown, and I was thinking, ‘I have those symptoms,'” Oprah told People magazine.
A few days later, Oprah said she reached breaking point while recording voiceovers for OWN.
“I remember closing my eyes while I was reading,” she said. “I thought, ‘I cannot have another thing enter my brain’. I needed to pull back.
“After 25 years of being number one I had become accustomed to success. I didn’t expect failure. I was tested and I had to dig deep.
“People were counting me out. The schadenfreude was very painful for me, because I had never experienced it. I thought, ‘Do I not get credit for the 25 years? What have I gotten myself into?'”
Oprah credits her long-time love Stedman Graham with pulling her back from the brink of a breakdown, saying his advice and support was invaluable.
“He was amazing,” she said. “He said, ‘You can’t even think about quitting. You have been in cruise control. It’s gonna turn around, but you’ve gotta do the work.'”
OWN’s fortunes are slowing turning around, with experts estimating it will break even later this year.
