The former talk show host revealed McCartney had the “sweetest” answer when asked about her teenage wishful thinking.

Oprah Winfrey tried to manifest marrying Paul McCartney as a teen: ‘Think of me’

The former talk show host revealed McCartney had the "sweetest" answer when asked about her teenage wishful thinking.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

EW's editorial guidelines

April 8, 2026 10:48 a.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Paul McCartney and Oprah Winfrey. Credit:

Swan Gallet/Getty

*To lead a better life, I need my love to be here*… is probably what Oprah Winfrey was thinking when she tried to manifest marrying Paul McCartney as a teenager.

The former talk show host, 72, revealed that her younger self would often employ the power of wishful thinking to connect with the “P.S. I Love You” singer, 83, from across the pond.

“I’ve had every dream in my life come true, I have to say. I mean, I grew up reading Maya Angelou and then she became a friend — everything that I’ve ever wanted or dreamed came true, except I did not marry Paul McCartney,” Winfrey told host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday’s episode of *The Late Show*.

Winfrey and McCartney.

Bill O'Leary/Getty

As it turns out, Winfrey is a major fan of the four lads from Liverpool. “I was the only girl in my neighborhood who collected Beatle cards,” she added. “I loved the Beatles.”

So much so that Winfrey tried to get in touch telepathically. “Paul was my favorite Beatle, and I used to try to make him think of me,” she said. “I used to wake in the morning and I’d stand on the stairs and I’d say, ‘Think of me. Think of me. Think of me!’”

Winfrey and partner Stedman Graham.

Michael Kovac/Getty

See the Beatles biopic cast side-by-side with John, Paul, George, and Ringo

Oprah Winfrey swaps seats, interviews Stephen Colbert on his show: 'What do you want to release before you go?’

And, to quote the Beach Boys, McCartney was picking up Winfrey’s good vibrations.

“When I first interviewed Paul McCartney years later, my first question to him was: ‘All those years, I was 14 and I was thinking of you, did you ever once think of me?’” she said. “And he said, ‘Every day, babe. Every day.’ Isn’t that the sweetest?”

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

While the pair may not have ended up walking down the aisle, Winfrey noted that they both “got our Kennedy Center awards together” in 2010.

“I am seated next to Paul McCartney on the night that he got his award, and I got my award,” she said. “When they played ‘Hey Jude’ on the stage, he took my hand. That was the dream I’d had all those years!”

When a smiling Colbert congratulated her on the achievement, Winfrey replied, “Thank you! I know. I said, ‘Stedman! Look, he’s holding my hand!’”

Winfrey did find love with her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, whom she has dated since 1986. McCartney, on the other hand, is married to Nancy Shevell.

Watch Winfrey discuss her love for McCartney in the clip above.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Talk”