Weren’t we just saying that Oprah gives the best dating advice? Well, it seems that Serena Williams agrees with us.
Among all the significant milestones tennis champion has reached, including 23 Grand Slam singles and four Olympic gold medals, she often says that her greatest achievement is being a mom. But there was a time when the 37-year-old athlete believed that she would never attain another goal of hers: Having both a successful career and a relationship. It was Oprah who convinced her otherwise.
In the February issue of Allure magazine, Williams opens up about falling in love with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, 35, and shares the single most valuable piece of relationship advice Oprah gave her. “Oprah said, ‘Never let anyone dim your light,’” Williams said. “That really stuck with me.”
After being romantically linked to stars such as Common, Drake, Grigor Dimitrov, and Brett Ratner over the years—which she told Allure were “mostly great relationships”—Williams first met Ohanian in 2015. The pair got engaged in December 2016, and welcomed their baby girl Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. in September 2017.
“Alexis doesn’t dim my light,” Williams added. “He doesn’t try to dim my light. He puts me in the light, even if I don’t want to be. He pushes me to further points I never thought about.”
The two later wed on November 16, 2017 in a star-studded ceremony that included famous guests such as Beyoncé, Eva Longoria, Cynthia Erivo, Anna Wintour, and Kelly Rowland. Now, Williams says she feels like she has someone in her corner supporting her both on and off the court.
“It always was something that I could see in some relationships—my light would be dimmer,” added Williams. “Now I feel like I can shine really bright and still do everything that I want to do.”
Williams joins a long list of people who Oprah has shared her wisdom and insight with, from Lindsay Lohan and Merle Dandridge of Greenleaf, to Erivo and Iyanla Vanzant. And most recently, the former talk-show host sat down with her BFF, Gayle King, to dish out dating advice on our new video series, The OG Chronicles.
Though baby Olympia is still too young to receive relationship gems from her mom or Oprah and Gayle, Williams told Allure that she is passing on a few words of wisdom to her daughter about beauty.
“I think my mom instilled in us to be confident women, to really believe in ourselves, be proud of our heritage, our hair, and our bodies,” said Williams. “That was something that was really important for her to teach us. I’m definitely teaching it to my daughter.”
She continued, “I want to teach her that she’s beautiful from the inside…Being kind and humble is the ultimate beauty.”
We think Oprah would approve of that message too.