WATCH: Oprah Winfrey opens up about her ‘one regret’ and what she would’ve done differently

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Oprah Winfrey might be one of the most successful pop culture icons, but she certainly has some regrets. The legendary talk show host recently opened up to 'TODAY' weatherman Al Roker as the turns 70. 

The ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’ icon reflected on her career and said there is one regret that she has regarding her career and would have liked to do it over if given the chance.

Oprah Winfrey opens up about her regret

Oprah Winfrey, 70, built her entertainment empire, Oprah Winfrey Network, just after concluding her eponymous talk show in 2011. 

However, more than a decade later, ‘The Color Purple’ star has some different thoughts about the way she handled her career back in 2011. 

Talking to Roker in the interview that aired on August 20, Oprah shared, "I would not have taken on the responsibility of trying to build a network while still ending the show.”

She continued, "That is my one regret. That is my, 'I should’ve handled all of that differently.'"

Roker replied, “We’re both in broadcasting,” before declaring, “We hate dead air.”

Referencing her wrapping up of the nationally syndicated talk show after 25 years and starting her network in the same year, Oprah shared, "I should’ve completed one thing, taken a year to do nothing, and then decided what was the next thing for me to do.”

She continued, "I made a decision that it was time for the show to end. I don’t regret that. What I do regret is trying to do multiple things at the same time.”

Oprah explained, "I would’ve done the thing that I tell everybody else to do," before advising, "When you don’t know what to do, do nothing.”

“Get still with yourself and do nothing. I would’ve given myself that time,” reflected the legendary host. 

She explained that her regret mostly stems from the fact that she did not listen to her inner voice and gave more weightage to outsiders’ words. 

The ‘Beloved’ star continued, "I thought to give myself a break, and other people were saying, 'Oh no, you just have got to leverage this moment, and you got to keep moving up.'"

"Everybody has that natural life force instinct inside yourself that lets you know what’s right or wrong, or that is your emotional GPS system,” explained Oprah, and added, "And any time I’ve ever gone against that, any time, is when I’ve made a mistake."

She highlighted the importance of listening to the inner voice, as she said, "Every time I’ve just gotten still and listened to what my gut said, what that still small voice that resides inside me, and you, and everybody else says, I have never made a mistake.”

Oprah Winfrey reflects on her talk show

While she did have regret about the timings of her different ventures, Oprah Winfrey expressed her pride over what she achieved with her syndicated talk show that she conducted from Chicago. 

Oprah said, "It was a different time," before gushing, "I often think about this just even in terms of the Oprah show, and the immense range of subjects that we covered on a daily basis.”

She reminisced, “We were just talking about what was going on in people’s lives in a real and meaningful way.”

"Raising children, overcoming cancer, stepping away from abuse, just every single imaginable dysfunction in our culture, that 'Oprah Winfrey Show' was able to address in a way that allowed people to see the best of themselves, and the possibility (for what) could be,” added the star.

Oprah Winfrey clears up rumor of her relationship with Gayle King

Oprah Winfrey's candid confession about her regrets came at the heels of her setting the record of her decades-old friendship with Gayle King straight. 

Appearing in Melinda Gates' 'Moments That Make Us' series, Winfrey and King reflected on their deep, years-long friendship while debunking the speculations of them being secretly gay. 

Oprah opened up about their 50-year-long friendship, saying, "I think we've shared pretty much everything and I would have to say, it wasn't even a matter of navigation," and added, "You know, for years, people used to say we were gay, and listen, we were up against that forever. And people still may think it."

King chimed in while joking, "I used to say Oprah, 'You gotta do a show on this, because it's hard enough for me to get a date on Saturday night with people thinking we're gay,' Because if we were gay, we'd tell you!’”

Winfrey noted during the conversation that such rumors persist because people "aren't used to seeing women with this kind of truth bond." "The reason why I think our friendship has worked is because Gayle is happier, not happy, but happier for me for any kind of success or victory or challenge I get through than I am for myself," Winfrey noted. 

"And I feel as happy as she does — I can't be happier than, cannot surpass Gayle. You cannot out-happy her. I am equally as happy for her," added the iconic host.