Oprah Winfrey chatted with television mogul Shonda Rhimes on "SuperSoul Sunday" and they realized they had one more thing in common: neither one of them dreamed of ever getting married.
"Scandal" creator Rhimes, 45, opened up to Winfrey, 61, about pressures she felt to get married in her 30s and early 40s.
"[It] feels obvious and maybe silly or something to people who are married or people who are older, people who have been through it. But if you’re a woman in your 30s or 40s, that’s a big deal. Everybody’s asking you all the time if it’s going to happen," said Rhimes, according to the YBF. "There’s a huge amount of pressure. It’s a lot like the desire to want to have children in our society. You’re supposed to want it, and if you don’t want it, what’s wrong with you?"
The "Grey's Anatomy" executive producer and writer revealed exactly how she feels about marriage.
"I was able to finally stand up and say, 'I don't want to get married.' At all," Rhimes told Winfery, according to People. "I said that out loud. I said it to my family. I said it to my friends. I said it to anybody who asked. It's never been a dream of mine."
Rhimes has three children and said she always saw herself being a mother though, noted Bella Naija.
"I’m one of those people, since I was 5, I could tell you I was going to have kids. I could tell you I was going to have three. I could tell you they were going to be girls,” she said. "But I have never wanted to get married. I never played bride. I was never interested. I don’t know what it is; I never wanted to get married.”
The successful television producer talked about why she never envisioned herself with a husband.
"I have so much going on inside my head in terms of writing, there’s such a large space in my life taken up by that," said Rhimes. "I can’t imagine it being taken up by a husband and children and writing, and everything getting its due. I don’t believe there is room for all of it. I really don’t. There may be some people who are doing it and who are very happy and who love it. And I am not knocking any of you. It’s never been a dream of mine [to be married]."
Then Winfrey opened up about her near-wedding experience with longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham, reported People.
"The moment he asked me to marry him, I was like, 'Oh, God! Now I actually have to get married?'" said Oprah. She and Graham agreed to postpone their wedding and never brought it up again. "But what I realized is, I don't want to be married."
Rhimes and Winfrey agreed that admitting they didn't want to get married out loud was like telling "a dirty little secret" and they felt liberated after revealing it.
"It was really freeing to say it out loud," said Rhimes.
