The billionaire philanthropist and author of The Next Day just launched the second season of her YouTube series, in which she sits down with famous and inspiring women to talk about some of their biggest life transitions.
One of those new interviews led to a total “pinch me” moment.
“The person that I interviewed this time that I had never met before was Jamie Lee Curtis. I mean, obviously I followed her work, but you never know how you’re going to connect with somebody,” French Gates, who turns 61 later this month, tells PEOPLE.
But the Freakier Friday star “came in with so much energy and authenticity,” French Gates says — and by the end of the episode, they were physically holding on to one another.
Plus, she brought up something that rang true for French Gates: that your life hinges on a couple of seconds you never saw coming and what you do in those moments will define your future.
“One of [them] in particular is a lot like me in terms of planning, plans everything out, very organized, needs to be, given all they’re trying to accomplish and get done,” she says without naming names. “But to go and say, ‘Hey, leave some space for the unexpected to happen, and you’re going to be surprised by those things?’ That was a message I definitely carried forward.”
Another standout moment from the new drop of episodes is one she shared with Serena Williams.
As French Gates explains it, they’d been at dinner with a group of women the previous night and the next day there was a “different setting” that involved costumes. (When pressed for specifics, she demurs: “I want to keep it private because of the person that hosted it.”)
On that second day, the one that involved costumes, French Gates was late, as was Williams, 43 — and the mom of three remembers thinking to herself that “nothing on that rack was going to fit me in the hips.”
Then she said it out loud and, much to her surprise, Williams said the same thing right back.
And, as Williams tells it in their episode, she looked at French Gates and said, “Woo, you got body!”
“I was staring at your body the whole two days. And finally I got enough nerve, I couldn’t hold it in anymore, I’m like ‘Sis, where you get that from?’ ” Williams adds on the show.
Needless to say, French Gates was flattered.
“I think most women don’t realize that all of us struggle with some form of body issue,” she tells PEOPLE. “You might not like your arms or your legs or your hips or whatever. And here she is, just this incredibly strong, powerful woman on the court. And yet, like me, she’s got to think about, ‘Okay, you show up at something and everybody else’s a size 4, and that’s not us, and there’s no costume that fits us. ‘ ”
And while that’s the kind of moment that would become a core memory for most people, French Gates says it ” totally slipped my mind” until they sat down again.
As for her favorite interview in season 2 of her YouTube series, well, that’s “hard to say, honestly,” she shares, comparing it to being asked to pick between her children.
But if she had to choose … it would be Robin Roberts.
“I always feel like I don’t get to see her enough,” French Gates says of the Good Morning America anchor. “We have a great connection.”
That connection was on full display when Roberts opened up in her episode about the final moment she shared with her mother before her death. Moved to tears, she quipped, “Wow you’re — Oprah, is that you? You’re getting me to cry.”
“Oh, my gosh, I forgot she did that,” French Gates says when asked about the high praise. “I mean, what do you say? It’s just really, really nice.”
“I have a world of respect for Oprah and who she is and what she’s done in society, particularly with her authenticity. So to me that was a huge compliment,” she adds.
But as for one day dipping her toes into the wide world of broadcast, the answer is easy: no.
“I’m so happy in the lane that I’m in, being able to invest in others, do grants on behalf of others, or to lift others up, to be able to hopefully inspire others to give in various ways,” French Gates says. “That’s enough for me.”
“You reach a certain age, too, and I hope I reached this well before 60, where enough is enough,” she says. “I think if you know yourself well enough and you like yourself enough and know what you stand for, you don’t have to do everything. You just don’t. And so you go, “Yeah, okay, fabulous. Robin Roberts is doing that. I think what she does is amazing.’ But for me, do I want to do it day in and day out? No, that’s just not me. But great that she’s there.”
The series also features a fourth conversation with activist Amanda Nguyen, who recently made headlines for taking part in Blue Origin’s all-female spaceflight.
After a busy year, French Gates says she’s looking forward to a little summertime fun.
“I take downtime in the summer,” she says. “August in particular is my month that I step back a bit and I try to really be home in the Pacific Northwest. It is beautiful right now, so I have family coming to town. We’ll go out and paddleboard, we’ll hopefully go have a picnic by the lake.”
And given the opportunity, yes, the proud grandma will absolutely devote herself to spoiling her grandchildren — Jennifer’s daughters Leila, 2, and Mia, 9 months.
“That is the prerogative of a grandmother as far as I’m concerned,” she says.
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But what does spoiling them look like to the billionaire? Well, that might surprise you.
“One thing that’s awesome is my oldest granddaughter loves books,” she says. “That’s kind of my favorite gift to bring to her.”
“But,” she adds, “I might let her push the limits of what time lunchtime is, or we … She was fully dressed one day and she wanted to run through a sprinkler, and I really hesitated and [then] I was like, Oh, forget it. Let’s just do it.’ “
