Up to 2008 I was a huge Oprah Winfrey fan and as much as possible, whenever time allowed it, I watched her shows. Had great respect for her. Her opinion really mattered even if I didn’t always agree with what she said and did. I liked Oprah. Admired her positive outlook, dedication to doing well and helping people to do and become the best they can. Always respected her selfless giving and the way she used her own adversity and her humble beginnings to becoming one of the most powerful, influential and wealthy people in the planet. To do all that and also be a woman and black was just fabulous.

That image of almost perfect was completely tarnished in 2008 when Winfrey refused to interview Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. And although I fully understood her support for Obama I did not at all understand or accept her logic in not interviewing Palin during the race and stopped watching her show until this morning.

The Lance Armstrong doping saga was just too intriguing to miss, and I knew if anyone could get to the bottom of it, it will be Oprah. But was not going to stay up late or get up too early for it, so I Sky+ it.

The interview is in two parts, the second half will be aired tomorrow on the Discovery Channel.

I watched out of curiosity. And wanting to see for myself what made Lance Armstrong who for years denied doping and using any performance enhancing substances, suddenly want to come clean?

Thirty minutes into the interview and, to me, it all became very clear. He is a total control freak who will not allow any event or person; even the authorities to dictate what he should and should not do. After beating testicular cancer – the one thing he had no control over contracting, but was determined to overcome and beat – Armstrong felt invincible. He became supreme, more obsessed with winning and controlling the outcome of everything concerning him and affecting his life. That began with controlling his and his teams’ performances. When that was questioned and came under attack he controlled its outcome, he lied, bullied and defied to the point of suing those who testified to what we now know is the truth.

So why, after years of denying – and mind you not fooling anyone, because he was stripped of every win and every medal – he finally decided to come clean? What changed? The short answer is nothing, nothing changed. The long answer, it’s all part of his obsession with control. Now that he is backed into a corner with nowhere to hide and all the evidences are indisputable, what best than to come clean. Take all the blame and carve a new reputation and person. Sounds cynical? Maybe, but I still believe this is just the beginning of what to come from the new reformed and repented very much control obsessed Lance Armstrong.

Update Saturday January 19, 2013: Finished watching the second and final half of the Oprah Armstrong interview and I stand by what I said on this post yesterday