{"id":111151,"date":"2025-10-31T19:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/111151\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T19:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:22:11","slug":"hilary-barry-on-hosting-oprah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/111151\/","title":{"rendered":"Hilary Barry on hosting Oprah"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to interviewing international celebrities, Hilary Barry is no novice. Still, she was wracked with nerves when she interviewed Oprah Winfrey ten years ago, and expects to be again when the pair take the stage in Auckland in December. But, as she tells Emily Simpson, she wouldn’t miss it for the world. <\/p>\n

Hilary Barry will never forget the beautiful, if slightly awkward, thing that happened the first time she met Oprah Winfrey, in 2015.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d been invited to travel to the Oprah Winfrey Network in LA to conduct a generous half-hour interview with the woman who was then \u2013 and remains \u2013 the world\u2019s biggest media megastar, and she was, understandably, a little tense.<\/p>\n

‘Kia ora!’: Oprah Winfrey shares her message to Hilary Barry – Watch on TVNZ+<\/a><\/p>\n

When the lights went on and the cameras began to roll, Barry began the interview of a lifetime on an honest note. \u201cI sort of said to Oprah, \u2018oh you know, it’s lovely to talk to you, I’m very nervous\u2019. And she grabbed my hand and said, \u2018No need to be nervous, you’ve got this. Ask your first question\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so the interview started with Oprah Winfrey holding my hand. And then I asked my second question and my third question… And in my head I’m thinking, oh my god, I’m interviewing Oprah and she’s holding my hand. Who’s going to let go first?<\/p>\n

\"Hilary<\/p>\n

Hilary with Oprah Winfrey in 2015. (Source: TVNZ)<\/p>\n

Barry laughs helplessly at the memory. \u201cI’m thinking, it’s Oprah Winfrey! Don’t be an idiot. Do not let go. And at about the fourth question she said, \u2018I think you’ve got this. I think I can let go now.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a sweet moment, but honestly, I could barely concentrate on what to ask because I’m thinking, is she going to let go? Am I going to let go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Cut to 2025 and Barry was going about her business as a media icon in her own right, albeit in a smaller pond, when she got a call from a local publicist who said a Sydney-based promoter was bringing \u201csomeone big\u201d to New Zealand. He was looking for a moderator to share the stage with this person, and would Barry be open to talking to him?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I said, oh sure. Because I’m nosy. I was Googling, trying to figure out who it might be. I came up with a few names but I never actually thought it would be someone as big as Oprah.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"At<\/p>\n

At 71, Oprah Winfrey (pictured in New York earlier this month) is still reigning supreme in the media world. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

But Oprah it was. \u201cOf course I immediately I said, yes. Absolutely, I would clear my schedule. I had no hesitation. I just, yeah, I was thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oprah Winfrey means different things to different people. Talk show host turned actress\/producer\/business woman\/philanthropist\/podcaster, her ability to sway everything from book sales to elections frequently earns her the title of most influential woman in the world. Having survived a famously challenging upbringing, she was the first African American woman to become a billionaire (in her case, a few times over). She\u2019s given over US$500 million (NZ$866m) to charity. She\u2019s the world\u2019s most famous yo-yo dieter who now, at age 71, looks more vibrant and comfortable in her skin than ever. If you\u2019ve got something to tell the world, as Harry and Meghan Sussex did in 2021, talking to Winfrey on TV will get the attention of 17.1 million viewers.<\/p>\n

And, of course, if you\u2019ve made a career, as Barry has, as a presenter and interviewer, Winfrey is simply a master of your craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike anyone who really enjoys their job, I’m a bit nerdy about it,\u201d says Barry. \u201cAnd so I look with different eyes at how others interview people, and Oprah is definitely one of the ones who I study. Not that I’m trying to be like Oprah, but I really like her style.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oprah<\/p>\n

Oprah Winfrey hosting AM Chicago in 1984. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

‘Oprah changed broadcasting’<\/p>\n

Barry credits Winfrey with dispelling the myth that an interviewer has to play hardball. \u201cAs a young person coming into television, I thought that to succeed I had to kick down doors and thrust microphones under people’s noses and ask them really confronting questions and be pushy. And for many years I thought that I would never find my place, particularly in television news, because I’m not wired like that. I’m actually really soft.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd broadcasters like Oprah have taught me that that you can come to a difficult interview with kindness, and actually ask difficult questions in a different way, a softer way, and get a response that\u2019s still worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Winfrey\u2019s refusal to put up a front that Barry believes has been key to her four-decade reign as media queen. \u201cI think people really relate to her, in the sense that she\u2019s so real and authentic. She\u2019s just really open about her life and how she feels about things. She would have been the first big time broadcaster that I ever saw shed a tear on air or, you know, laugh till she cried. When I started broadcasting it was all stiff upper lip and you certainly didn\u2019t talk about your feelings on TV.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘The most terrifying thing I’ve ever done’<\/p>\n

As for what she and Winfrey will talk about on stage at Auckland\u2019s Civic Theatre in December, Barry says the \u201cnuts and bolts\u201d are yet to be worked out. So far, she has had one call with Winfrey (and some of her team) to plan it. \u201cI had one question for her, which basically was \u2018what would you like of me?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Oprah\u2019s response was along the lines of, \u2018I just want you to be yourself, and I want us, two grown women, to be on stage, having a conversation about life and where we find ourselves in an uncertain world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So, moving into shallower waters: what will Barry be wearing? \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she says, looking mildly panicked. \u201cI mean, I’ll have to find out what Oprah is wearing and just make sure I’m in the background. You know, make sure I don’t clash…<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will have come to see Oprah. I don\u2019t want to get in the way of anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for the one-off event have already sold out. Will Barry, ten years older and more seasoned than when she last met Winfrey, be nervous this time?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes!\u201d she says. \u201cIt’s funny because I was talking to my husband, saying \u2018oh my gosh, this will be the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he said, \u2018why did you say yes then?\u2019 And I said, \u2018because it’ll be the most amazing thing I’ve ever done.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, there will be a couple of thousand people there and that adds a level of pressure that I’m not used to.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I will absolutely be nervous, but I’ll do my best to keep a lid on it. I don’t intend to be a nervous wreck. And I kind of like the feeling of walking into the fear anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When it comes to interviewing international celebrities, Hilary Barry is no novice. Still, she was wracked with nerves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2567,430,156,111,139,69,384],"class_list":["post-111151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}