Fergie could be Duchess of Chat

The Queen of England mayn’t approve of this one.

Oprah Winfrey, the ‘queen’ of American TV, has offered the cash-strapped Duchess of York her own prime-time chat show, according to a report in the UK's 'Daily Mail' newspaper.

The billionaire chat-show queen launches her own television station, the Oprah Winfrey Network, next January, and reportedly rang the financially over-wrought Duchess last week with the offer.

The paper quoted an anonymous source close to the Duchess as saying: “Oprah made the call this week.

They spoke in person and, for Sarah, the offer is a ray of light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Oprah has known Sarah for some time and the Duchess went on Oprah’s show to explain herself after her most recent scandal. Oprah has always been impressed by Sarah’s ability to pick herself up and reinvent herself.

“She feels Sarah will be someone viewers of her new channel will be able to relate to on many levels – she’s a divorcee, a working mother, someone who has made some very public mistakes and a woman who, like Oprah, constantly battles with her weight.”

Fergie, often nicknamed the Duchess of Pork for her weighty problems, gave Oprah the exclusive after she’d been caught by a British tabloid asking for for £500,000 (Dh2.8 million) to provide access to her former husband, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, a special representative for British trade and investment. He apparently knew nothing of the agreement and the Duchess later apologised, returning the £27,000 down payment she had received.

Ferguson told Winfrey she was “in the gutter” during the videotaped sting, the culmination of what the former weight-loss spokesman called a lengthy downward spiral.

She said she had met the journalist-poseur previously and told him she suspected he was a News of the World journalist. Yet she met with him again: “This is the key to how out-of-control I was. Because I instinctively knew ... I actually told him, you're a News of the World journalist ... because I could tell,” Ferguson said, adding that she needed the money urgently to help a friend.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

The Daily Mail’s source said the new job could involve a move to New York for the Duchess, who, according to the anonymous source, “believes her chances of finding meaningful work in Britain are negligible and she has always felt more accepted in America”.

The source said: “Oprah was impressed by Sarah’s ability to face up to her errors and to apologise publicly for them. Americans love people who reinvent themselves and Oprah believes Sarah can do that on the new network.”

The 50-year-old Duchess is believed to be around £2m in debt and her staff members have all been dismissed.

She still lives with Prince Andrew at Royal Lodge, his official residence in Windsor.

The offer is being seen as a lifeline for the Duchess, who has reportedly been told she will not receive a penny from her ex-husband, even though she is said to be on the verge of bankruptcy.

Andrew, who earlier this month had vowed to help the Duchess out of debt, will not be offering any financial assistance, the publication said, quoting more anonymous sources.

Oprah, who has a fortune estimated at £1bn, is reportedly ploughing millions into the new channel.

One show will be a behind-the-scenes look at her own hit talk show, which is coming to an end after 25 years.

Other planned shows include 'Visionaries: Inside The Creative Mind' in which celebrities such as Lady Gaga and 'Avatar' director James Cameron talk about their art; 'In The Bedroom', a sex advice show, and 'Breaking Down The Bars' about female inmates. 

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