Fergie Gets a Second Chance ... From Oprah

Is the Duchess of Weight Watchers getting her own TV show?

No, not that Fergie. The tarnished Duchess of York, who recently fell from grace in the public eye after being caught selling "access" to her ex-husband Prince Andrew, may be getting her groove back — if you'd call having one's own TV show a "groove."

ShowbizSpy reports that Oprah Winfrey has allegedly offered Sarah Ferguson a TV show on her new network OWN TV, citing quotes from an unidentified source including "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."

If that's the criteria for hosting a new show on OWN TV, perhaps we'll see Kirstie Alley next, or Denise Richards if she can manage to put on a few pounds. I suddenly feel like running across the street for a dozen bagels myself.

The impressive thing about Oprah's foresight here is that, if she just made the call, by the time OWN gets her show up and running, Ferguson will doubtlessly have made the rounds of interviews and appearances at the right charity balls and her indiscretion will be all but forgotten to the viewing public. Furthermore, if Oprah essentially tells us Fergie's okay, we'll probably buy it. Who doesn't love a TV show host with some dirty secrets in her past (including Oprah herself)?

This, like the firing of Shirley Sherrod, is a "teachable moment." The lesson here is either: 1. There is no disgrace from which you cannot recover, or 2. When you sink to your lowest low, and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes God reaches out a hand.

I mean Oprah.

Photo by Donald McPherson via Wikimedia Commons.