How long does a relationship in the entertainment business last? One year, five years, or ten years. But Stedman Graham and Oprah Winfrey are one of the exceptional cases as they have been together for 35 years without getting married.
Let's find out about their relationship details!
Stedman Graham And Oprah Winfrey Met Through A Mutual Friend
Stedman Graham and Oprah Winfrey met through a mutual friend who was ill at the time. Oprah knew Stedman, a former athletic and sportswear model, and he had a girlfriend TV anchor, Robin Robinson, whom he started dating in 1982. When they left, Oprah asked him to drink beer, but Stedman said he didn't drink.
Oprah thought he was nice enough as he was polite and kind. However, she wasn't impressed in the first met.
Stedman Graham And Oprah Winfrey Began To Date In 1985
After her friend's suggestion, Oprah Winfrey chose to maintain friendship until Stedman Graham was single in 1985. After a year of knowing each other, Stedman and Oprah began dating each other.
As a result, in 1992, Stedman began to spend time in Oprah's luxurious Chicago Apartment. Oprah was hosting her show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which had launched in 1986. As a result, Stedman started spending more time in Chicago working with the non-profit he started, Athletes Against Drugs.
Stedman Graham Proposed Oprah Winfrey
According to People, in October 1992, Oprah Winfrey was hanging in her kitchen with Gayle King and waiting for Graham to get in from Chicago. When Winfrey went outside to meet him after his arrival, he popped the question.
"I want you to marry me," Graham said. "I think it's time."
In response, Winfrey said, "Ah, that's really great."
When Winfrey returned to the kitchen, she reportedly told King, "You are not going to believe this. Stedman just proposed!"
The couple kept their engagement a secret for a few weeks until Oprah shared the news during a November appearance on King's TV show.
In a column for the February 2020 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, she said if she had married Graham, their relationship might have never worked out. In 1993, Stedman and Oprah decided to call off the wedding but choose to stay together unmarried.
"The moment after I said yes to his proposal, I had doubts. I realized I didn't actually want a marriage. I wanted to be asked. I wanted to know he felt I was worthy of being his missus, but I didn't want the sacrifices, the compromises, the day-in-day-out commitment required to make a marriage work. My life with the show was my priority, and we both knew it."
She added: "He and I agree that had we tied the marital knot, we would not still be together."
Winfrey said she has a "spiritual partnership" with Graham, one where her partner was able to create an identity and purpose outside of being "Oprah's man."
In 1995, Stedman and Oprah started to live together in a 57th-floor apartment in Chicago. Oprah was busy filming the show, The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Stedman Graham Opens About Being The Boyfriend Of Oprah Winfrey
In a 1977 New York Times profile titled, 'They Used to Call Me Oprah's Boyfriend,' Stedman Graham opened up about his struggle escaping Oprah's shadow and how he's "his own man, with his own ideas and dreams."
As the founder, president, and chief operating officer of S. Graham & Associates — sports-focused management, marketing, and consulting firm — Graham wanted people and fans of Oprah to recognize him for his own accomplishments.
Rumor About Stedman Graham And Oprah Winfrey Getting Married
A Spam magazine circulated a rumor that Stedman Graham and Oprah Winfrey had secretly married in a private ceremony in 2016.
6 people who know me well have called today congratulating me or surprised they weren't invited to my wedding.
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) September 5, 2016
IT' s NOT TRUE!!
Winfrey took to Twitter to bounce off the rumor, writing,
"6 people who know me well have called today congratulating me or surprised they weren't invited to my wedding. IT' s NOT TRUE!!"
In an interview in 2017, Oprah Winfrey told Vogue that she wouldn't be able to fit like a traditional.
Oprah Winfrey Celebrated Her 67th Birthday With Stedman Graham
In January 2021, Oprah celebrates her 67th birthday with Stedman at home. Taking to Instagram, Winfrey shared an adorable video of herself and Graham gathered around the kitchen table. The clip begins with Winfrey and Graham embracing a hug as he sings “happy birthday” and presents her with a cake. Oprah then took a seat next to Graham as she prepares to dig into the decadent two-layer cake.
In the caption,
Thank you to all my special friends, and friends I didn’t even know I had, for your birthday wishes! I felt blessed by your messages. And grateful to have another turn around the sun. @stedmangraham and I had a quiet day at home watching The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Sounder and ate some cake 🥳🍰
Stedman Graham Was Previously Married
Stedman Graham was previously married to Glenda Graham in 1974, and from the marriage, they had a daughter Wendy Graham, born in 1975. However, their marriage soon ended, and the couple shared custody of their daughter.
He became a grandfather when Wendy gave birth to her daughter, Cadence, in May 2015. His daughter Wendy also worked in her father's company S. Graham & Associates. And she was very close with her father's girlfriend, Oprah Winfrey, and she worked with her before.