Benjamin Bratt Involved in Oprah Winfrey Fiasco  2/2/06

Actor Benjamin Bratt was left red-faced when Oprah Winfrey asked him to surprise one of his so-called fans - and she had no idea who he was.

The E-Ring actor, 42, reluctantly agreed to go along with the prank as a personal favour to the talk show host.

Bratt says, "I got asked to do something that I was initially reluctant to do, but you don't want to refuse Oprah."

A woman had contacted Winfrey to say her niece was a big fan of Benjamin Bratt, in order to score tickets to the show.

Winfrey decided to surprise the woman's niece with a spa day at a local hotel and a personal massage from her favourite star.

The Traffic star says, "I had dread in my soul because I knew it wasn't going to work. I said 'All right, I'll do it.' I went out and I said, 'Hi, I'm Benjamin, I'm meant to give you a massage today.'

"She had no idea who I was. Her aunt lied. She just said that to get a ticket to the show. So, needless to say, they buried the piece and it never got shown.

It was pretty bad."