Oprah Winfrey has been dating Stedman Graham for 27 years but she has vowed she will never marry him.
Despite getting engaged to Stedman for a few weeks in November 1992, Oprah says she has never been interested in marriage, and never will be.
Asked if she would die a “never-married” woman, Oprah told Access Hollywood: Yes. I think that’s my final answer.”
Oprah said she thought about making an honest man of Stedman when she attended long-time friend Tina Turner’s wedding in July, but ultimately decided it wasn’t for her.
“Tina was like, ‘Oprah you need to do this. You need to do it’. I was just thinking, ‘Well, okay, would things really be different?’ And no, I don’t think so.”
In fact, Oprah is convinced marriage would change her relationship for the worse. She thinks she and Stedman would not have lasted as long as they have if they were married because he would expect her to act like a “wife” and she couldn’t do it.
“If you ever interviewed him, he would tell you that had we married, we would not be together today,” Oprah said. “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. First of all, you’ve got to come home sometimes.”
