Oprah Winfrey opens up about 'debilitating' toll being overweight had on her body after she was forced to get surgery on her knees

Oprah Winfrey has revealed that having surgery on both of her knees is the 'best thing' she's ever done after being overweight left her 'debilitated to the point where it was hard to walk down even two steps.'

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Today presenter Al Roker, the talk show host explained that her doctor told her that she had to have the operations if she wanted to 'continue walking,' but admitted she felt intimidated by the whole thing.

Oprah, 70, who teared up whilst discussing her weight-loss journey in a recent podcast interview, said that as she gets older, she felt 'a sense of urgency about living well' and stressed that it was 'all about' her health.

'A couple of years ago, 2021, I had knee surgery on one knee, and I had been becoming more and more debilitated to the point where it was hard to walk down even two steps, just to get into the car. And when I finally went to the knee doctor, and I said, "I don't know, is it time?" and he goes, "It's time if you want to continue walking, do you like walking? Then it's time, it's time,"' she told Al.

'And so, I'd never been through surgery or... [I] was intimidated by it. The best thing I've ever done, I really felt like I had a new opportunity to live inside my body in a way that I hadn't been able to for years because being overweight and the being overweight causing the knees to be even worse.'

Oprah Winfrey has revealed that having surgery on both of her knees is the 'best thing' she has ever done

During an interview with Today host Al Roker, Oprah admitted that being overweight left her 'debilitated'

The broadcasting legend, who last year admitted to using weight-loss medication, said she was 'excited' to turn 70 in January, because she never thought she would make it to such an age.

'I remember many, many years ago as a young girl, I had always thought that I would never make it to the 60s or 70s. I had this number in my head that I thought, "Okay, I'm gonna be out by then,"' she admitted.

When Al asked why, Oprah elaborated: 'I think I had a vision of it when I was a kid, and I think it's because under the circumstances that I was living when I was a little girl in Milwaukee on welfare with my mother and what I now know, that if I had stayed in those circumstances I probably wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be here healthy and strong and vibrant.'

Al then asked the TV star if her 'concept of gratitude' was deeper now, to which she replied: 'I would not say that it's deeper, Al, because I have been doing it for so long. I would say that there is a sense of knowing that there isn't as much time left, and I am at peace with that knowing.'

'My great gift is being able to live in the present moment. I think it's really the thing that brings me the greatest joy. Because no matter what's going on in your life, you can compartmentalize and be just right here, right now. So, I'm not a worrier, I will worry about the thing when the thing shows up,' she added.

Al, who was celebrating his 70th birthday on Tuesday, also grilled Oprah on whether or not she felt like she'd done what she was put on the earth to do.

'I feel like it continues,' she admitted. 'I think until the last breath it continues, and I think that ultimately there is no offering greater than your love.

'And it doesn't matter if you were giving that love through your broadcast audience, you are able to speak to millions of people or you're just speaking to one, people may forget what you did or what you said, but they never forget how you made them feel.

Oprah, pictured here in 1992, previously revealed that at her heaviest when she weighed 237lbs (107.5kg)

The talk show host, pictured here in March 2024, admitted she felt 'a sense of urgency about living well' as she got older

Al underwent bariatric surgery in 2002 after his weight reached 300lbs and he had knee replacement surgery in 2023

'So that feeling that you leave with every person that you encounter, that becomes your legacy,' she added, before urging Al not to be 'scared' about entering a new decade.

'Don't be scared, Al. It's gonna be all right, it's gonna be all right [and] you know why? Because you have already overcome some of the greatest challenges. I mean, you can tell us what it's like to almost not make it and what it means to have the most vital part of your life in order, and that is your health.

'What is amazing is that your heart has been pumping, pumping, pumping, pumping for you for 69 solid years, almost getting you there to 70 and it's been doing that right on time! Just for you!' she said excitedly before high-fiving Al.

Al was off air for two months beginning late 2022 after he was hospitalized for blood clots in his lungs and legs. 

And in May 2023, he underwent his third knee replacement surgery.