Oprah’s blissful isolation
Two South African academy graduates are enjoying lockdown with Oprah
SHE’S never made any secret of the fact that she adores South Africa – for years Oprah Winfrey has been a huge fan. And now with the world in lockdown, her affection for SA remains as strong as ever. Holed up in her sprawling estate in Montecito, California, she’s been eating steamed mealie bread and sharing sweet videos of the two South African guests who are keeping her company.
Thando Dlomo and Sade Pietersen were among the first intakes of girls at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in Henley-on-Klip near Johannesburg, which the media titan founded in 2007.
But even though it’s been years since they graduated from the school, they remain close to their benefactor, their Mam’ O.
In an interview last year Thando told us how Oprah was there to cheer her on when she graduated from the University of Southern California with a master’s degree in journalism (YOU, 21 February 2019).
The 27-year-old from Benoni, who now works as a producer on showbiz news show Entertainment Tonight, also revealed she’s a frequent guest in Oprah’s homes, where she and the billionaire have spent many happy hours together, binge-watching TV series.
“Her house is like home to me,” she said.
Oprah (66) has said she thinks of Thando, Sade and all the other girls who have gone through her academy as “the daughters I didn’t have”.
“I never thought that mothering instinct was something for me,” she told People magazine last year.
But clearly she was wrong. As the weeks of lockdown have turned into months she’s been fussing over her girls like a mother hen – cooking, baking banana bread, cleaning and involving them in art projects.
Thando and Sade couldn’t have asked for a better place to spend lockdown.
The 16-hectare compound, which Oprah bought in 2001 for $50 million (then R425 million) has 14 bathrooms, six bedrooms and sea views. With all that space, it’s unlikely they’ll get on each other’s nerves. Oprah has announced she’s planning to stay home for the rest of the year.
“I’ve cancelled everything on my calendar outside my gates,” she says. “I just don’t think it’s going to be safe to be in large group settings.”
She added that for health reasons she can’t afford to take any chances.
“I also had pneumonia [last year] and am just now getting through all the bronchial stuff. So I won’t be leaving these gates this summer,” she says.
But far from feeling disappointed about all the stuff she’ll be missing out on, she actually seems to be thoroughly enjoying her time at home.
“I’m never bored because I always have myself. I never feel alone because I just love being with myself,” she said in a recent interview with O magazine.
“So this is more time to be with myself without the guilt. Usually it’s like, you’re with yourself but everybody wants to be someplace else. But there’s
nowhere to be.”
With all her staff unable to come to work, Oprah has been forced to pitch in and help with the cleaning and cooking. Instagram pics showed her struggling to change a duvet cover.
“Anyone else find it challenging getting a duvet inside a cover? There must be a method I’m missing,” she wrote.
She seemed happier in the kitchen standing in front of the stove with a big glass of vino in her hand.
“Wine and music make meal prep so much better,” she wrote.
After all these years of always being on the go, she’s finding it a novelty to have so much time on her hands.
“Never in a million years did I see me and Stedman doing a puzzle on a weekday night,” she wrote. “But after two months in quarantine, we’ve had to figure out different ways to spend time together.”
In April she posted a pic of herself painting Easter eggs with Thando and Sade.