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Is Oprah married? No, Oprah Winfrey is not married, though she nearly wed longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham—who she’s been dating in 1986—in 1992. Oprah and Stedman were engaged, but the wedding never happened, and the Queen of Talk has subsequently said that staying single was the right decision. “The truth of the matter is, had we gotten married we wouldn’t be together now, because in no way is this a traditional relationship,” she told Essence in 2003. In April 2012, Oprah and Stedman sparked engagement rumors, as the National Enquirer reported that they would marry on the air to promote Oprah’s fledgling OWN network. That marriage has yet to take place, and the 58-year-old media mogul remains ring-less.

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The fact that Oprah has never been married has led some to speculate that she’s a lesbian, and some have linked her to close friend and fellow TV personality Gayle King. Oprah has denied that she’s gay, and in a 2010 interview with Barbara Walters, she called King “the mother I never had.”

Oprah isn’t married, but she has had flings with some high-profile men. In the 1970s, she briefly dated TV star, radio host and New Age music composer John Tesh. The two reportedly split up due to the pressures that came with having an interracial relationship. She also dated renowned film critic Roger Ebert, who gave her the idea to syndicate her talk show. “Yes, it is true, I persuaded Oprah to become the most successful and famous woman in the world,” Ebert wrote in 2005. “I was also the person who suggested that Jerry Springer not go into syndication, for which I have received too little credit.”

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Will Oprah ever get married? If the Enquirer is to be believed—and really, when isn’t it?—it may depend on how OWN fairs in the ratings. Should Winfrey need to save the network, she could certainly do worse than to plan a walk down the aisle. As one insider said, “By marrying Stedman she can not only give viewers a TV event that will rival the royal weddings, but also months of programming covering everything from shopping for her gown and choosing the wedding site to selecting the food and band—everything down to en­graving the invitations.” Get your DVRs ready, America.

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