You Won't Believe Who's On the Cover with Oprah This Month
For this month's cover, Oprah took a walk on the wild side.
By Clarissa Cruz
![Oprah at O Magazine's January 2015 cover shoot Oprah at O Magazine's January 2015 cover shoot](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/o2/201501/201501-omag-bts-1-949x534.jpg)
Photo: Donna Alberico
The list of luminaries who have shared the cover of O with Oprah is pretty short: Michelle Obama. Ellen DeGeneres. Rosie O'Donnell. Dr. Oz. And now...Beast. The 10-year-old African lion stretched, yawned and roared for his most high-profile gig yet. (His past credits include a GEICO commercial.) So how did the two cover stars get along? They never met. For safety's sake, Beast was photographed the previous day; cuddlier stand-ins were used to get shots exactly right. "I can honestly say I've never done this before," Oprah said as she reclined next to George DeLacy, a member of the set-design team, who gamely posed in a full lion costume. In the end, the 500-pound cat wasn't the only thing the crew had to wrangle. "Make sure the left breast is out of sight," Oprah said after narrowly avoiding a wardrobe malfunction in her low-cut Marc Bouwer gown.
![O Magazine's January 2015 cover shoot O Magazine's January 2015 cover shoot](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/o2/201501/201501-omag-bts-2-949x534.jpg)
Photo: Donna Alberico
The stand-ins for the real lion? A plush version and George DeLacy doing his best King of the Jungle impersonation.
![O Magazine's January 2015 cover shoot O Magazine's January 2015 cover shoot](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/o2/201501/201501-omag-bts-3-949x534.jpg)
Photo: Whitney Tressel
Photographer Ruven Afanador and his team shot from inside a protective cage.
![Behind the scenes with Oprah at O Magazine's January 2015 cover shoot Behind the scenes with Oprah at O Magazine's January 2015 cover shoot](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/o2/201501/201501-omag-bts-4-949x534.jpg)
Photo: Donna Alberico
Afanador giving Oprah and Gayle King the lowdown on Beast and DeLacy's digital switcheroo.
Published 12/02/2014