Oprah Winfrey tried to kill herself in 1981, when she found out Tim Watts was married

Oprah Winfrey had a suicidal attempt in 1981 when she discovered the man she was in love with, DJ Tim Watts was married with children.

Oprah Winfrey was so distraught that she could not be with radio DJ Tim Watts that she drove her car into a tree in an apparent suicide bid.

The TV star even wrote a “suicide note” to best friend Gayle King, who put her on a 24/7 watch after she survived the smash.

Tim Watts, now 59, told the National Enquirer that he and Oprah Winfrey, now 57, were “both young and at an age when people do stupid things they might regret later”.

Tim Watts insisted that they were now good friends and that they had both put their past behind them.

The National Enquirer reported that Tim Watts met Oprah Winfrey in 1981 when she was a production assistant at WJZ-TV in Baltimore.

Tim Watts was the man she would have “married in a heartbeat” – until the night she followed him home and discovered he was already married with children.

A source told the National Enquirer: “She was so upset she smashed her car into a tree.”

After a while, Oprah Winfrey decided not to kill herself but did keep the love letters that Tim Watts sent her.

Oprah Winfrey also used the episode to better understand why she allowed men to walk all over her.

Tim Watts, who is still a radio DJ for a station in Baltimore, said: “Friends are hard to come by so I’ll hold onto the few I have.

“What happened between me and Oprah took place a long time ago and we have both learned from it.

“I have no hard feelings towards her and she has none towards me.

“We were both young and at an age when people do stupid things they might regret later. We both moved on and are at good place in our lives.”

Tim Watts however refused to talk about claims by the National Enquirer or Oprah Winfrey biographer Kitty Kelly that he was paid $50,000 never to talk about their relationship and how they apparently “played house” as husband and wife.

Reports say the money could also have been to keep Tim Watts quiet about Oprah’s half-brother Jeffrey, who was gay and died from AIDS.

According to another source: “Tim feels horrible about the way he treated Oprah but he’s asked for forgiveness.

“Oprah believes in forgiving people, so she did. They’ve been able to start their relationship over, remembering the good times, not the bad.”

The story about Oprah Winfrey relationship with Tim Watts is the latest in a series of upheavals for her.

Since finishing the 25-year run of her Oprah Winfrey show, the TV star has relocated from Chicago to California to help bolster her ailing OWN network.

After its blockbuster launch in January which saw one million people tune in, ratings for OWN have tumbled and now average about 300,000 in prime time and 150,000 in the day.

Oprah Winfrey also recently discovered she had a half sister she did not know about for more than half a century.

Patricia Winfrey was given up for adoption by her mother Vernita Lee shortly after her birth in 1963.

Oprah Winfrey was unaware of Patricia existence until she was informed in November and the news “shocked her to the core”.

Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 1954, Oprah Winfrey claimed she was so poor she never had any new clothes or toys and adopted two cockroaches as pets.

Oprah Winfrey claims she was raped and abused by unidentified family friends as a child and at the age of 14 gave birth to a son who died a week later.

Having spent more than 20 years on TV, Oprah Winfrey is now one of the most successful women in the world with a fortune estimated at $2.7 billion.

After her relationship with Tim Watts Oprah Winfrey met marketing executive and motivational speaker Stedman Graham in 1986.

Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham have been together ever since and whilst they did once get engaged, they have never married.