Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, and Oprah Winfrey are names that need no introduction. Surprisingly, the lives of these three personalities have been close-knit for several decades. While Arnold Schwarzenegger is now Maria Shriver’s ex-husband, Winfrey remains Shriver’s best friend. Naturally, the bodybuilder and the talk show host first met through Shriver. After all, no one can evade befriending the best friend, not even Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But Oprah Winfrey was not an ordinary lady herself. During their first encounter, her headstrong attitude and faith in herself left the Austrian Oak impressed. In one of his books, Arnold Schwarzenegger has given a detailed account of his first encounter with the $2.5 billion dollar worth talk show host, Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah Winfrey stood out from the rest

In his book Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger mentioned that Maria Shriver always picked interesting friends. However, among all her friends, Oprah Winfrey was the one who stood out the most. Describing her personality from his perspective, Schwarzenegger wrote, “She was talented and aggressive, and you could tell she believed in herself.”

For one of her shows, Winfrey visited Schwarzenegger in the gym once because she wanted him to demonstrate the importance of staying fit. There were also times when the two shared their thoughts on teaching kids and interesting books. Safe to suffice, the two did form a good bond during those days.

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However, no matter how well she bonded with Schwarzenegger, she was Shriver’s friend first. When things went down between the couple, Winfrey had Shriver’s back. She even gave Maria Shriver a platform to make herself be heard, loud and clear, while taking a subtle jab at Schwarzenegger.

Maria Shriver took a subtle dig at Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2011

2011 is one of the darkest years of Maria Shriver’s life. It was the time her 25-year-long marriage came to an end after her husband’s illicit affairs came to light. Instead of avoiding the press, Maria Shriver appeared in an interview just a day after the news broke out. To put things into the right context, Winfrey did what she does best. She took an interview with Shiver.

The episode went down in the history of the show not only because of Shriver’s appearance but also because it drew the curtains to Winfrey’s iconic talk show. While appreciating her during the show, Shriver had taken a subtle jab at her estranged husband. She said, “You have shown love, support, wisdom, and most of all…the truth.” Her statement was undoubtedly an indirect attack on Schwarzenegger who hid the truth about his son’s identity from Shriver for more than a decade.

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However, these stories are now a thing of the past. But it is commendable how a strong woman like Oprah Winfrey effortlessly left a great impression on Arnold Schwarzenegger.