Leslie Bibb is grateful to Oprah Winfrey for playing a pivotal role when it comes to her modeling and acting career.

If you didn’t know, the now 51-year-old actress won a modeling contest on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1990 at the age of 16.

“I don’t know why [Oprah] decided to do it, but she hosted a modeling contest with Elite [Modeling Agency] and Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Iman were the judges,” Leslie said while on Today with Jenna & Friends.

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“I won, and it brought me to New York and sort of opened up a whole world for me. And now here I am. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you,” she added.

After the contest, Leslie went on to have a successful modeling and acting career. Recently, she starred as Kate in the third season of the hit HBO series The White Lotus.

In April, Leslie‘s partner and co-star Sam Rockwell reacted to her performance on the show.