Media mogul Oprah Winfrey has entertained the world for many years, whether through her longtime talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” or films such as “The Color Purple” and “Beloved.” Winfrey has been famous for so long that her fans know all about her private life, including the fac t that she’s been dating her boyfriend, Stedman Graham, for 40 years. However, it’s an old flame of the 72-year-old that has folks surprised. One of Oprah Winfrey’s ex-boyfriends let the cat out of the bag, revealing intimate details about their past romance. (Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions) ‘We Have Not Forgotten’: Oprah Winfrey’s Cozy Letter to Trump Was a Thing of the Past — Until the Epstein Firestorm Dragged Her Back into Chaos Many Oprah fans were shocked to learn that she once dated former “Entertainment Tonight” host and musician John Tesh, especially since she’s been with Graham since 1986. Tesh told Page Six that he dated Winfrey in the 1970s. Both journalists were working in Nashville, Tennessee, at different local TV news stations. The 73-year-old said that the couple dealt with discrimination as an interracial couple in the South. The couple was sometimes assigned to cover the same stories. He worked for WSM-TV, and Winfrey worked for their rival station, WTVF-TV. “It was like, ‘OK, this makes this a lot of fun,’” he said. He said it was a time in the South when it was “very uncomfortable back then for an African-American woman and a very, very white guy” to be dating. “It became a joke between us,” said Tesh. “Because we would work all day and then, like we really saw each other once a week, and she or I would say, ‘Hey, which restaurant do you want to empty tonight?'” He added that interracial dating at the time “was unusual in the South. My whole family grew up in the South, and so I was obviously aware of that.” Tesh also claimed he couldn’t remember if he and Winfrey ever kissed when asked. “I don’t even remember us kissing! We were really, really close friends.”  Those who grew up watching Winfrey and followed her journalist career before launching her talk show were not very surprised. But the same can’t be said for today’s generation, who just learned that the OWN founder hasn’t always been tied to Stedman. Fans reacted to the news with shock. “WTH never knew they dated,” said one person, while another surprised fan wrote, “I don’t remember them going out.” A third person who refused to believe Tesh added, “Oh please, they never dated! Stedman’s been her ‘man’ forever.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ent360NEWS (@ent360news) “I NEVA heard they were dating. Wow! Oprah was all over the place with her male companions,” added another. A few people couldn’t fathom that Tesh and Winfrey dated, joking, “Winfrey to Selleca, well it appears she was down with the swirl.” In response to one person who insisted Tesh “dated down,” one Oprah defender blasted, “Considering she went on to become the most successful woman in the world and the greatest pop-culture icon of all time, I think he dated up.” But not many were buying Tesh’s claim about a restaurant. One person pushed back, “I grew up in the south! I think he’s exaggerating or he’s making it up! People didn’t flee restaurants when a mixed couple sat down to order! At least not wide spread, as he insinuated!” Tesh said they ended their relationship due to their work schedules, and he eventually moved to New York and later to Los Angeles. The “Roundball Rock” singer later married “Hotel” actress Connie Sellecca. According to the book “Oprah: A Biography,” Tesh lived with Winfrey for a time as well, but it claims they broke up because he couldn’t handle being in an interracial relationship. Winfrey, of course, moved to Chicago and found fame on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” She also met Graham, and the two have been in a relationship since the 1980s but have never married. One fan noted that Winfrey had also dated the late film critic Roger Ebert in 1986. ‘He’s Making It Up’: Oprah Winfrey Fans Stunned as White Ex Shares a Memory That Rips Open a Chapter She Thought Was Buried — And the Fallout Feels Personal ...read more read less