Oprah Says She Knew Rach Was "The Real Deal" 12 Years Ago

Our 2,000th episode didn’t begin like the rest -- because Rach was nowhere to be found!

"Don’t adjust your [TV] sets!" Oprah jokes, as she greets a super surprised audience.

As it turns out, she had a special job to do!

She was there to introduce the woman of the hour -- Rach -- in honor of the 2,000th (!!!) episode of our show!

Before bringing her out, though, Oprah took a look back at a clip from the first time she had Rach on her show in 2005.

"You have such a great personality," Oprah said to Rach at the time. "People like you!"

Oprah knows best!

"Even then, I knew it," she recalls of that foretelling moment. "She was the real deal."

"[And] 2,000 episodes of her show later," she continues, as she prepared to bring Rach out, "it turns out, I was right."

The two proceeded to sit down at Rach’s kitchen table -- as Rach has done with so many of her guests in the 1,999 episodes that came before this one -- and Oprah turned the tables on her!

She asked Rach all about the moment she heard she’d be getting her own daytime talk show, the most important lesson she learned from her mom (who was sitting in the audience!), her celebrity crushes and how she feels about her loyal viewers (that’s YOU!).

Watch the special interview in the video above!