Whoopi Goldberg On Being Happily Single: Reacts<\/p>\n
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Whoopi Goldberg\u2019s<\/a> genuinely iconic quote about relationships, with the star often going viral for her no-nonsense quip: \u201cI don\u2019t want somebody in my house.\u201d<\/p>\n If you need the full context, Whoopi said this in a 2016 interview with the New York Times<\/a>, where she admitted she\u2019s \u201cnot that interested\u201d in getting married again. Then-60-year-old Whoopi added to the publication: \u201cI\u2019m much happier on my own. I can spend as much time with somebody as I want to spend, but I\u2019m not looking to be with somebody forever or live with someone. I don\u2019t want somebody in my house.\u201d<\/p>\n Whoopi has been married three times before, and was just 18 years old when she married her first husband, Alvin Martin, in 1973. They split in 1979, after welcoming a daughter together, and Whoopi went on to marry David Claessen in 1986. They broke up two years later.<\/p>\n Whoopi\u2019s final marriage was to Lyle Trachtenberg, who she wed in 1994 before splitting the following year, when she was around 40. And the star has been open about her total lack of interest in coupling up again ever since.<\/p>\n In addition to her NYT interview, Whoopi said on the Tamron Hall Show<\/a> in 2019: \u201cPeople keep saying: \u2018Well, you\u2019ll find somebody.’ I\u2019m not looking for anyone. I am very happy. I don\u2019t want to live with anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n “For me, there is a commitment. When you make a commitment to someone else, it\u2019s a commitment to ask their opinion and listen, and work it out with them. I don\u2019t want to do that,” she went on. “I don\u2019t want to share money. I know it\u2019s terrible, but I don\u2019t want to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n And Whoopi doubled down again in a candid conversation with Interview<\/a>, with the now-70-year-old star explaining: \u201cIn the last 25 years, I recognized that not everybody\u2019s cut out to be in a relationship. Some people are just cut out to be one-night stands.\u201d<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t want to live with anybody. I lived with my daughter. That\u2019s all I can handle. I have lots of people that I love, but I don\u2019t need them living with me. I don\u2019t need to be sleeping with them,\u201d Whoopi added, before clarifying that being single doesn\u2019t mean she is lonely. \u201cI don\u2019t necessarily get lonely because there\u2019s enough people around who don\u2019t let me.\u201d<\/p>\n “But most people are not comfortable being alone because we\u2019ve been taught that there\u2019s something wrong with you if you\u2019re not a pair, that being singular, eating singular, is a bad thing,” Whoopi continued. \u201cSometimes you don\u2019t want to eat with other people. Sometimes you just want to go and have some pasta. You don\u2019t want to say, ‘Do you want red wine or white wine?’ I don\u2019t give a fuck what you want.”<\/p>\n And Whoopi\u2019s comments have resonated with many happily long-term singletons, who praised the star for normalizing what is a perfectly healthy, enjoyable, and \u2014 dare I say \u2014 oftentimes preferable lifestyle. Reacting to the interview on a Reddit forum, one person wrote<\/a>: \u201cI swear the mindset people have for people who are single, especially if they are older is just so weird. If you are comfortable, know yourself, and have a productive life you are not going to feel lonely. There are people who feel lonely when in a relationship or married.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs a non-lonely single middle aged person, I always wonder if these people who assume we’re all lonely know what friends are. I don’t need romantic companionship to feel cared for and care for others. A lot of people seem to use romantic attachment as some kind of bandaid for whatever they don’t want to deal with within themselves, but you can’t actually have a healthy romantic relationship like that,\u201d another added<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m edging on 30 and have never been in a long-term relationship – I experience attraction to other people and I’ve dated a bit, but I always find I’m just happier and more fulfilled in platonic relationships. It’s nice to know that I’m not weird for feeling this way and that there are other happily single people out there, too,\u201d one more replied<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The other day, my manager joked she could set me up with someone. People cannot grasp other people not wanting to be in a relationship. It almost like there’s an air of pity from her or that she perceives me as \u2018lonely,\u2019\u201d another user shared<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m realizing now it’s because these people lack perspective. They view things in a \u2018one size fits all\u2019 way. I’m also realizing how much relationships are pushed when we’re teenagers, the pining, the longing that’s associated with teenaged relationships. And there not much guidance! Everything relating to relationships in the media that we were exposed to as teens show us unrealistic and unhealthy relationships. If I could go back in time, I would advise myself not to focus so much on staying in the wrong relationship as a teen, but how was I to know better?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been single all 34 years of my life. I couldn\u2019t imagine living any other way,\u201d one more commented<\/a>, and another echoed<\/a>: \u201cI’ve been single since birth, 38 years ago. never had a relationship, never wanted one. I’m so so happy to be alone, to live alone.\u201d<\/p>\n As somebody who is also very happily single by choice, never lonely, and couldn\u2019t imagine living life any other way, I absolutely love that Whoopi has inspired others to speak out about their own positive experiences. What do you think? Let me know down below!<\/p>\n It’s the 100th anniversary of Black History Month<\/a> this year! Follow all of our coverage here<\/a>. Of course, the content doesn’t end after February. Follow BuzzFeed\u2019s Cocoa Butter on Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, and YouTube<\/a> to keep up with our latest Black culture content year-round!<\/p>\n