When Carol Woodle's first husband walked out on her and their three young boys without a moment's notice, she thought her life was over. With not a single penny in her bank and three hungry boys to feed, Carol was left begging for food, living off food stamps and home was their car. But now 22 years after the day her life fell apart, Carol, 59,  is living the life of her dreams and it's all down to 61-year-old Oprah. For when the TV mogul's career began, Carol today reveals how an uncanny resemblance to the hottest new celebrity in town brought her happiness beyond her wildest dreams. Scroll down for video . Dead ringer: Carol Woodle (right)reveals how an uncanny resemblance to the hottest celebrity in town brought her happiness beyond her wildest dreams after she was unceremoniously dumped by her first husband . Open arms: Today Carol is paid to appear as Oprah at anything from 90th birthday parties and corporate events. She also makes unpaid appearances at woman's shelters . 'She is such an amazing woman,' says Carol. 'who channeled such positivity despite where she came from' Soul sisters: Carol (right as a child) believes that Oprah (left in her high school yearbook) saved her life. 'There was a time when I was so low and helpless I questioned whether I could go on' After constantly being told she was the dead ringer for Oprah, Carol entered a look-a-like competition and has never looked back. Today she is one of the most sought after celebrity look-a-likes in the business and thanks to her newfound career has given her now grown-up sons Matt, Michael and Joe, the life she feared they would never have. Not only has being Oprah allowed her to pay the boys' through college, channeling her image has given Carol the confidence she never had. 'Oprah literally has saved my life,' tells Carol. 'There was a time when I was so low and helpless I questioned whether I could go on. 'I was so low I was even hospitalized for 30 days due to malnutrition and depression. 'But now I live and breathe the positivity that Oprah tells us all to channel. 'Thanks to her I am happy, have married my dream man, have put a home over my families heads and am making a living out of making people smile.' It was back in 1992 while living in Texas with her ex-husband George, that Carol's life fell apart. Carol, here with her mom, was struggling to provide for her children after her husband walked out of their lives until she entered an Oprah Winfrey lookalike contest . While working for the military, George simply left the house that morning and never came back. Recalling that dark time in her life, Carol said: 'He walked out that day and said "See you later honey, I'm going to work," kissed me on the cheek and headed out of the house. 'But he didn't just leave for work, he walked out of the home and our lives forever. 'We had been married for seventeen years, I can honestly say I had no inkling. 'One minute he was here the next he wasn't.' Worse still Carol tells how when she went to the bank, she found their account was empty. Carol said: 'I didn't even have a dime to buy the boys food. 'It is hard to put into words what that feels like.You feel like your entire world has fallen apart. 'I was not close to my family and I felt like I had nowhere to turn. 'One day out of sheer desperation I even sold my wedding ring and used the money to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread and some gas for the car. 'It got so bad, I had no option but to live with the kids in our Honda Odyssey. 'And that was our life for two months.' YouTube.com . Recalling that dark time in her life, Carol said: 'He walked out that day and said: "See you later honey, I'm going to work," kissed me on the cheek and headed out of the house. But he didn't just leave for work, he walked out of the home and our lives forever.' A relative in California eventually offered a helping hand to Carol and after moving there, it was then, people began telling her she bore an uncanny resemblance to Oprah. Carol said: 'The first time it happened I laughed it off and said "How can little old me look like someone as amazing as Oprah?" 'But then it began to happen more and more. 'And the more I looked in the mirror at myself, the more I began to realize we were so alike it was almost spooky. 'It's not just our faces either, it's our mannerisms, our hands and our lives seemed to mirror each other. 'It was almost as if we were twins, two gloves that were entwined with each other. 'Just like me Oprah had endured a difficult childhood and just like me Oprah struggled with her weight. 'She even seemed to change her hairstyle at exactly the same I would change mine. 'We were living parallel lives and I loved her from the moment I saw her on the screen. 'She is such an amazing woman, who channeled such positivity despite where she came from.' Eventually a friend persuaded Carol to enter a look-alike show on US TV in 2007 and despite not winning, her new career was born. Today Carol is paid to appear as Oprah at anything from 90-year-old birthday parties to corporate events. She makes unpaid appearances at woman's shelters. Carol, who is now married to second husband John, 60, said: 'I'll never forget the day I was paid to appear at a corporate event and surprise the guests by giving away an iPad to ever single one of them. 'I did it exactly like the time when Oprah caused a frenzy by giving everyone in the audience a car. 'I said: "You get an iPad and you get an iPad and YOU get an iPad" and the room was jumping. It was so much fun. 'But equally rewarding is the charity appearances I do, when just like Oprah I try to talk to women about channeling positivity and turning your life around. 'Because I am living proof, that dreams do happen, you just have to believe it. 'The more I looked in the mirror at myself, the more I began to realize we were so alike it was almost spooky' 'Some days I just gasp when I look up into the mirror and say 'Well hello Miss Oprah' and laugh to myself' 'I just hope one day I get to meet Oprah so I can tell her face to face just how much she has done for me, without even realizing it.' As she walks, talks and moves her hands everything about Carol exudes Oprah and it is not surprising she cannot even go to the grocery store without people stopping and asking her for her autograph. 'It's hard to go out for a coffee these days as now I have perfected my Oprah look so much, I think half the time I think I am her,' laughs Carol. 'People are always stopping me asking if they can help me with my bags, have my autograph and enquiring how Steadman is and no matter how much I insist I am just a look-a-like they just laugh and say, 'That's what all the celebrities say to have a quiet life.'' Although Carol herself admits she looks so like her idol Oprah that she even shocks herself some mornings when she looks in the mirror. 'I think when you have spent so many hours perfecting her mannerisms, her make-up and her look, then you do start to feel like that person,' tells Carol. 'Some days I just gasp when I look up into the mirror and say 'Well hello Miss Oprah' and laugh to myself.'
Carol Woodle is one of the most sought after celebrity look-a-likes in the business . Today Carol, 59, appears as Oprah at 90th birthday parties, corporate events and women's shelters . At one appearance she gave away iPads like Oprah's famous car giveaways saying: 'You get an iPad and you get an iPad and YOU get an iPad.' But after her first husband walked out on her and their three young boys she thought her life was over . 'I was so low I was even hospitalized for 30 days due to malnutrition and depression'
Being Oprah allowed her to put the boys' through college .