Filed under: Television, News, Celeb Updates
To be a friend of Oprah Winfrey definitely has its perks.
Close pals of the billionaire media mogul, who will soon kick off her final season of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show,' have reaped the benefits of her power status in the form of their own television ventures.
After serving as a mainstay health expert on her Emmy Award-winning daytime talk show, Dr. Mehmet Oz was one of those people who launched his own television show.
Though the man fondly known as Dr. Oz is grateful for the opportunities that Winfrey has given him, these days, he's most aprpeciative of how supportive she has been since he discovered a precancerous growth in his colon.
"I talked to Oprah about this right after the colonoscopy results came back," Oz told People.
"Her main question, classic Oprah, was, 'I don't care about this stuff. Are you okay? That's the bigger question.' It's all about how do you deal with the rough waters you hit? This was a storm that came over the horizon," the 50 year-old Cleveland-born television personality said.
Winfrey, who produces his popular daytime talk show 'The Dr. Oz Show,' was further inspired to put her own health in check.
Oz shared, "She said, this makes me want to get a colonoscopy right away.She'd been putting it off, like I would have done. But she saw how important it is to have early detection."
Now, the Columbia University Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery says he's planning to tell his story to his viewers so that they might be encouraged to undergo colonoscopy screenings after age 50.
"Talking to people and giving them knowledge but not the visceral awareness doesn't work," he says. "Oprah taught me that. Use my story. The only way it's compelling is because you know me."