In the October issue of O magazine, Oprah Winfrey opens up about her an unusual fear of balloons. While the party favorite brings joy to most people, 59-year-old media mogul said just the thought of a balloon “really freaks me out.”
“I don’t like balloons, and for my 40th birthday my entire staff decided to surprise me,” Winfrey recalled. “I come downstairs and the entire audience is filled with balloons. Literally, I’m stepping over balloons, having to walk through balloons and I’m so, like, ‘Oh! When is one going to pop?'”
Why does she hate balloons so much? “It reminds me of gunfire,” she shared.
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Despite her extreme anxiety, O said eventually she was forced to face her fear. “No way around it – [I] just had to walk through them,” she said. “There are a few things that in life, if you allow them to, can really keep you from moving forward. You have to really walk through it.”
Balloons aren’t the TV queen’s only phobia. She’s also has a strong dislike of chewing gum, which stems back to her childhood. “My grandmother used to save [used gum],” she revealed in a previous interview. “So gross!”
Of course, Oprah isn’t the only celeb with bizarre fears. From toes and airplanes to dolphins and seagulls, the list of Hollywood phobias is ongoing. Take a look at our top nine below.
1. Diddy has a fear of long toes.
The music man revealed his dislike of toes during an appearance on “The Tonight Show.” I have “this foot thing,” he said. “I really fear a second long toe.”
2. Nicki Minaj has a phobia of escalators.
The Young Money rapstress has a fear of heights and escalators. “Heights freak me out, even though I’m tall,” she said. “Looking down is really hard for me.”
3. Aretha Franklin suffers from aviophobia.
Aretha Franklin is one of the many celebs who suffer from the fear of flying. “The last time I flew was in ’82. I had such a bad flight,” the queen of soul told Time magazine in 2010. “The flight was dipsy-doodlng up and down all the way home. I said, ‘Oh my God, when I get to Detroit, that’s it. That is it.’ And I have not flown since.”
4. Tyra Banks has a fear of dolphins.
This phobia traces back to the model’s childhood. “I’ve been afraid of [them] since I was 8 or 9,” she once told People magazine. “I have dreams that I am in a pool and there are dolphins bumping me and I’m frightened.”
On an episode of her talkshow, she added, “You think a dolphin is sweet, is cuddly — but to me, they’re not. I feel anxiety and I feel panic whenever I’m confronting or even thinking about or talking about a dolphin—it’s happening right now.”
5. Adele is afraid of seagulls.
“I was walking down the promenade in Tenby eating [an ice cream], when this huge f**king seagull came down and swiped it off me,” she shared with Now Magazine in 2008. “I thought it was going to take me away with it.”
6. Michael Jordan fears water.
Ever since his childhood friend died in the ocean, the NBA legend has avoided bodies of water.
7. Nicole Kidman hate butterflies.
“I’m not afraid of snakes or spiders,” the actress said. “But I’m scared of butterflies.”
8. Madonna suffers from brontophobia.
Madonna has battled brontophobia, the fear of thunder, for most of her life.
