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Sports Seriously
Brandon Saho has described himself as a “Cincinnati kid” for years. But he now has a new descriptor: “As seen on Oprah.”
The former WLWT Channel 5 sports reporter was featured on an episode of “The Oprah Podcast” that dropped on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
The episode, titled “Why Young Men Are Struggling Right Now with Oprah & Scott Galloway,” explored the male loneliness epidemic, the pressure men face to hide vulnerability and other challenges young men experience in the 21st century.
They’re challenges Saho knows well. The 32-year-old has struggled with his mental health since he was 14 and a freshman at La Salle High School. At WLWT, Saho lived his dream job. But when the NFL reporter was off camera, he contemplated jumping off the Roebling Bridge.
Suicidal thoughts. The Bengals’ AFC Championship. The death of three family members. A devastating breakup. The Bengals’ first Super Bowl appearance in decades. Addiction. All of these highs and lows, Saho was dealing with in a short span of time.
The White Oak native left WLWT in 2022 and created a podcast called “The Mental Game” to break the stigma around mental health struggles. Terry Crews, Sam Hubbard, former Disney star Alyson Stoner and “Parks & Recreation” actor Jim O’Heir are just a few of the names he’s interviewed on the show.
But with Oprah, Saho was the interviewee.
Getting the call for ‘Oprah’
Saho, who now lives in Los Angeles, posted a video that went viral on Instagram in early October.
He opened up about his fear of possibly never becoming a husband or father. “It eats at you,” he said. “And you wonder if you’re ever going to get what everyone else has. If you’re good enough?”
The video resonated with more than 7 million viewers, including Oprah Winfrey.
Saho was back in Cincinnati, eating at a LaRosas Pizza in Blue Ash with his mom, when he got the call from Winfrey’s team asking him to come on the podcast.
Days later, he flew to New York to film with one of the biggest names in the world. He opened up about his fears on the show with roughly 50 other men in the podcast audience.
Saho shared that he gave up on dating despite his desire to be a father and husband. He’s developed a fear of rejection after his relationship experiences. He’d spent the past few years pouring energy into himself and began loving himself a year and a half ago.
“How can you balance loving yourself and finding that person to love?” he asked author Scott Galloway, igniting a discussion on the podcast.
Afterward, Saho met with Winfrey and Gayle King backstage, sharing more of his story.
Saho described it as an “out-of-body experience.”
Winfrey “just has a way of pulling at heartstrings and getting you to open up,” he said. “For me, it was really comforting.”
How to watch Saho on Oprah’s podcast
The majority of the podcast is between Oprah and author Scott Galloway, who wrote the #1 New York Times bestseller “Notes on Being a Man.” Saho’s segment begins around the 20-minute mark. Listen to The Oprah Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and watch on YouTube.