Now, Iyanla shares how she was feeling at that time in her life, torn between her loyalty to Harpo and an offer from a television icon.

Iyanla: "So I'm here every [other] Tuesday minding my business, and then I get this call. I didn't know who it was at first either until I get to the Plaza, and I go to the dinner. Now from welfare to the projects to lunch with Oprah and dinner with Barbara Walters."
Oprah: "I understand."

Iyanla: "Do you?"

Oprah: "I really do."

Iyanla: "Talk about frying the brain cell and the eyeball."

Oprah: "Because Barbara holds that thing for me too. I credit my being in this business because of Barbara Walters. So I understand when Barbara Walters calls you that that will get all of your cells."

Iyanla: "That's why I went to pray and fast. My best friend knows. Everybody knows I was fried. When we went to the dinner, I told her no. I said, 'I'm not leaving Harpo.'"