Oprah Winfrey is so enthusiastic about an active lifestyle that she’s making sure everyone around her is on board, too. The TV mogul’s go-to form of exercise has been hiking.
Her affinity for long walks in various terrains has been sprinkled throughout her social media posts, sometimes begrudgingly dragging her longtime best friend, Gayle King, and others along for the experience. Her recent trip to Australia was no exception.
O magazine writer and director of social media, Joseph Zambrano, gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at Winfrey’s idea of fun in vlogs — the footage looked a lot more like never-ending training sessions with beautiful international landscapes as the backdrop.
In one clip, Zambrano says to the camera, “We’ve hiked so much that my Apple Watch is asking for overtime.” In another instance, he talks about the early start the former talk show host has planned. He whispers, “She wants us to hike again,” after revealing their strict orders to gather in the hotel lobby at 7:05 a.m.
After one trek, he remarks, “We’ve been released; we’re finished,” as he and three other crew members celebrate logging more miles.
Reactions filled the comment section, several of them expressing shock at Winfrey’s stamina. According to Zambrano, “She even went to the gym after one of our hikes this week. I went to nap.”
An Instagram follower quipped, “Oprah is literally torturing you guys. I’m calling the police.” A second person told him to “blink twice if you need help.” A fan humored by the clips commented, “Oprah got new knees and ya’ll are paying the price.”
The Oscar-nominated actress underwent a double-knee replacement in 2021. Hiking was an integral part of her physical rehabilitation.
“At first, I went on short, five-minute walks, but every day I went a little farther…. A year later, I was able to walk more than 10 miles up a mountain… I’m active, healthy, and able to fully inhabit my body without pain or limitations,” she wrote in an essay published by O in October.
In 2023, she revealed a dramatic transformation after losing extra weight. At the time, she was a spokesperson for Weight Watchers; she later parted ways with the company after admitting she also used a GLP-1 medication to shed unwanted pounds. Since then, she has continued to sport a slimmer figure.
“At this point Oprah is just showing off this new body of hers and I can’t blame her,” a supporter gushed. Winfrey sported green leggings and a matching top for one hike.
“I want what she’s taking,” said another Instagram user.
The otherwise innocuous post also attracted a single detractor who quipped, “Oprah getting ready to set fire to another beach front community,” after noticing the background in one clip.
🔥🚨DEVELOPING: Oprah Winfrey just explained how her and Dwayne, ‘The Rock’ Johnson used their $5 million dollars to startup the People’s Fund of Maui instead of donating the $10 million Oprah stated:
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) September 3, 2023
“The infrastructure is in place for your donations to help people be able to… pic.twitter.com/d5OOKKMwS0
Winfrey has faced waves of recurring backlash since the Maui wildfires of 2023. Locals slammed the celebrity for protecting her multimillion-dollar estate while surrounding communities burned down. She was also slammed for the slow release of $1,200 relief funds from her and The Rock’s People’s Fund of Maui.
