Oprah Winfrey always wanted her own church.

She said: "I was so enthralled by Dr. King. I wanted to be Dr. King. I wanted to grow up and have my own church, run my own congregation and be my own order and lead the people. I didn't exactly do that, but my television show was a way of doing that.

"He was an enormous influence on me. Mrs. King was a personal friend of mine until she died. I have a great respect for the legacy of what he left for all of us."

However, Oprah insists she hasn't achieved anything that compares to the humanitarian - who was assassinated in 1968 - and thinks his endeavours were unique.

Speaking at the premiere of 'Selma' - a historical drama about Dr. King which she has a supporting role in and helped finance - she told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "In every generation there comes along a person like Dr. King who has the ability to garner the hearts and the spirits of a nation, to help people to see in themselves what they could not possibly believe could be true.

"In my life, I do work to help people from all different backgrounds and I joined this project to help [director] Ava DuVernay and [star] David Oyelowo. I wanted to see them succeed."