By Jade Lawton
WINNING tickets to Oprah Winfrey’s one-off Australian show was a dream come true for Nicole and Emma Menzel.
The daytime TV queen has been a life-long inspiration for the pair, who grew up in Pakenham and Beaconsfield, and seen them through some dark times.
When Emma was 10 years old, she suffered a massive haemorrhage which caused a stroke. Her family was told she may not live through the night.
Against the odds, Emma survived and spent the next two years learning to walk and talk again.
At age 13, she suffered another stroke. Sometime during this period Emma penned a letter to Oprah, asking her to do something for her family, whose lives had been turned upside down by her illness.
While the letter was never sent, the sisters’ trip to Sydney’s ‘Oprah House’ for the 14 December taping will be an experience to remember.
Nicole, 27, said picking her little sister, now 23, to come along was easy to decide.
Nicole’s winning ticket was randomly selected from more than 300,000 entries.
“I checked my email on the Monday morning at my boyfriend’s house and I just burst in to tears,” she said.
“I rang Emma straight away – because we both share a love of Oprah and Em has been through a lot in her life.”
“And I would kill her if she didn’t,” Emma added.
Nicole is shouting Emma’s flights to coincide with her birthday on 22 December.
Both sisters say they enjoy Oprah’s giveaways and make-over shows best.
“I just love the car episode. I still cry at that one,” Emma said.
“We cry at nearly every episode,” Nicole said.
Emma has made matching ‘G’day Oprah’ T-shirts in preparation for their trip.
They have no idea what the show will hold, although Emma is hoping for a freebie – if it’s a car she’s already promised to sell it and split the profits with her Oprah-loving mum, Sue – and Nicole would love to meet her idol.
She also wouldn’t mind if Oprah threw in some bridal gifts for Emma’s upcoming wedding, at which Nicole will be maid of honour.
The random selection of Nicole’s ticket in the Oprah ballot has almost been an answer to Emma’s never-sent letter a decade ago.
“It was a life-changing thing for me and my family and I asked if she could do something for them,” Emma said.
“When I became really sick my family where my rock, my inspiration.”
