Oprah Winfrey is revealing a last-minute detail that helped make one of her most famous television moments go smoothly. In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the former daytime host said she realized overnight that the keys had not been taped into the giveaway boxes for the audience.
Winfrey said she asked producers to secure the keys because she knew people would shake the boxes first. The 2004 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show famously gave away 276 cars, and she said the show had worked hard to keep the surprise under wraps by making it seem as though only 12 audience members would receive a vehicle.
According to Winfrey, the audience’s reaction also led her to start repeating the famous line, “You get a car. You get a car. Everybody gets a car.” She said people were shouting over one another, and no one could hear what she was saying at first.
Winfrey also said the team had to adjust the gift presentation itself, replacing smaller bows with larger ones so they would cover the cars better. She added that her best friend Gayle King helped spark the idea by connecting the show with a car executive who wanted to reach Winfrey’s team.
