Betty White is opening up about her biggest regret, and it will warm your heart.
The 93-year-old actress told Oprah that if she could do anything differently in life, she would have married her husband Allen Ludden sooner. White said she put Allen off for a year before finally giving in, marrying him in 1963.
When Oprah asked White if she had “any big regrets,” White responded: “That I spent a whole year, wasted a whole year, that Allen and I could have had together, saying no, I wouldn’t marry him. No, I won’t. No, I won’t leave California. No, I won’t move to New York. I wasted a whole year we could have had together. But we made it. We finally did.”
Oddly enough, Betty White’s biggest regret had nothing to do with her first two failed marriages. She married U.S. Army pilot Dick Barker in 1945 and Hollywood agent Lane Allen in 1947, but White said they were just not right for her.
“I had lovely relationships, but not anything in the league of Allen,” she told the Mail Online last year.
Betty White met Allen Ludden when she appeared on his game show, and they dated for two years before White finally accepted his proposal.
They remained together until Allen’s death in 1981.
Betty White would never marry again, saying that no other man could compare to Allen .
“Once you’ve had the best, who needs the rest?” she told Larry King. “I made two mistakes before Allen, but the love of your life doesn’t come along in every life, so I am very grateful that I found him.”
Since Allen’s death, Betty White has put her focus into her career, allowing her to work well into her 90s. Back in 2011, when she spoke out about Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan apparently wasting their talent, White offered a bit of advice on how she has been able to maintain her career for more than five decades.
“Respect your profession,” White said.
“There is an enormous population out there, who would sell their souls to do what you do,” she said. “It’s an amazing life, so make sure you appreciate every minute of it.”
White also said she has no plans on retiring anytime soon.
“I have a wild workload, but as long as my energy is good, I don’t get tired. Plus, I love what I do, so it never feels like work,” she explained. “I’m tremendously lucky to have good health, and I never take it for granted.”
While it may be impossible for Betty White to take back her biggest regret, she said she is grateful for the 18 years with Allen Ludden, who she calls the “love of [her] life.”
[Image via Angela Weiss / Stringer / Getty Images]
