Lisa Ling Calls Oprah An “Incredible Boss”
Sept. 7 2010, Published 12:00 p.m. ET
Now that Lisa Ling is getting ready to launch a documentary series called Inside With Lisa Ling on Oprah Winfrey’s network, OWN, the former View host has high praise for her boss.
“Oprah is an incredible boss,” Lisa, 37, tells me during a Bausch & Lomb’s Biotrue Inspiration In Your Eyes event. “She so believes in the work that I do and she’s so passionate. When you go into the room with her, she’s staring at you so intensely because she is listening so hard – so strongly – to what you’re saying.”
That same high praise doesn’t extend to a certain Kiss rocker who made her feel uneasy when he was a guest on The View.
“Gene Simmons once tried to stick his tongue down my mouth on national TV,” she reveals. “That was mortifying because that thing is long! I didn’t let it happen. I was horrified by it. He just sort of came in and I panicked and I think I almost fell to the ground. So there was no contact made. It was totally awkward.”
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But that’s not the only uncomfortable encounter she’s had on TV.
“Another time I was supposed to do this contrived karate move with Chuck Norris. I was supposed to be able to throw him to the ground and we practiced it, but when we were live on the air on The View, he pinned me to the ground. It was unexpected. It was funny, but it embarrassed me because it caught me so off-guard.”
Here’s my pic with Lisa:
Winners will receive an all-expenses paid trip for two to one of the top 10 inspirational places in the continental United States through Bausch & Lomb’s Biotrue Inspiration In Your Eyes contest. And, catch Lisa on Inside With Lisa Ling, which debuts in January.