Editor’s note: When Oprah Winfrey retires in 2011, a new host will have the opportunity to takeover her television legacy- and it could be a Jayhawk. Tiffany Williams-Jallow, a 2005 KU graduate, is competing in the “Oprah’s search for the next TV star” contest. The contestant with the most online votes will be among nine other top 10 finalists selected from other contests categories. Williams-Jallow currently hosts a talk show called “Relationships 360,” airing four times a week on the Time Warner channel and the Comcast channel in the Kansas City area. She joined the two-month long competition a week ago and as of this evening has about 1,700 votes on her blog, www.relationships360blog.com. The voting ends midnight, July 3.

The Kansan caught up with Williams-Jallow and found out about how a bad break up can potentially lead you to becoming the next Oprah. Here’s some of what she said.

1. When did you hear about the Oprah contest?

My mother called me about three weeks ago and said that Oprah has been looking for people to host a show on her network. A couple of days later I found myself rallying people together so I could put together an audition tape for my own show.

2. How did you register for the competition?

First, I reviewed the rules for the contest. Then I uploaded my video to the site. There was a long application that I had to fill out. It took me, gosh, three hours to go through the application. There were about 50 in-depth questions that she wanted the answer to, everything from the personal web-pages you’re featured on, religious beliefs, personal mottos, educational background, musical tastes- pretty much anything you can think of to know about a person.

3. When did you start producing your own talk show?

I started as a result of a suggestion from the owner of the production company that now directs and edits my show. I sat on it for a couple of months and then called him in September. I pitched a talk show that would give people expert advice on how to solve some of their relationship issues and problems.

My motivation for that is because I’ve been through a series of bad relationships; everything from being a child of divorce, to being a recent divorcee, suffering a miscarriage and being in abusive relationships. I felt like I could be a voice to kind of help people to navigate the stresses, the hurt and the drama that come along with these different types of relationships.

4. How do you think your background and your life experiences affect your work as a talk show host?

I have training to be a broadcast journalist and I’m a natural chatter-box. I like to talk to people and I like to give advice. I have a natural ability to connect with people and give them common sense advice drawing on my own personal experiences. That’s definitely what I put into the show: being able to connect with people on a real level. I’ve been through these things and I’m trying to give people advice on how to avoid being a victim to some of the things I’ve been through, and if they are, to help them cope with their decisions.

5. How do you come up with your ideas for the talk show?

Sometimes I will hear different things in the community; my last show was about balancing marriage and kids and that came from just asking people about their biggest relationship problem. So basically, I use feedback from people and I do research. I have a couple of people that work on my show and do research; they go to relationship forums and see what people are talking about.

6. Why do you want your own show on the Oprah network? Will it be similar to your show now?

That’s the idea that I pitched and I want to have my own show on the national level because I just want to reach more people with my message. I feel like it’s my passion; I’m passionate about helping people. I want them to have happy, productive lives.