D’Arcy

PROVIDENCE — An East Side mother of two who lost her job in March and separated from her husband took a step outside her comfort zone in mid-October and landed on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Jane D’Arcy, 46, sent an e-mail responding to a plug on Oprah.com “for women who were ready to shake up their lives.” She got a call the next day.

“It was like a two-week whirlwind,” D’Arcy said. She had to agree to get on a plane in two days and fly to “we’re not going to tell you where, and do something — we’re not going to tell you what.”

She landed in California with the three other women who were chosen and Ali Wentworth, who is married to George Stephanopoulos and is a frequent contributor to the show.

“We worked with the woman who trained Drew Barrymore for the movie ‘Whip It’ and then skated with the L.A. Derby Dolls. “I was the worst one,” D’Arcy said. “A lot of the women were incredibly nice. They seemed real tough, but they’re the nicest women you’ve ever met.”

Then they found themselves at an airport for skydiving.

“I have always said I would never jump out of a plane unless it was engulfed in flames and hurtling towards the earth,” D’Arcy said. “I can’t even believe I did it, but I did.”

The dives were in tandem with professional skydivers. “The woman who went in front of me passed out before she jumped, so I went first. I did actually like it,” she said. “I would consider doing it again. It was a great experience.”

They also had to run naked into the ocean, but they had to figure that out from clues. Wentworth “was talking with us and, as she was talking, she was taking her shirt off.”

D’Arcy said they all followed suit, so to speak, and ran for the water.

Last week, they were flown to Chicago to tape the show on Friday. D’Arcy said they were treated to a hairdo and went with a stylist to Nordstrom to be fitted with outfits to wear on the show.

During the taping, D’Arcy said, she sat closest to Oprah, noting that the superstar “has beautiful skin.”

The show airs Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Correction: Jane D’Arcy's first name was incorrect in a earlier version of this story.

dnaylor@projo.com