Celebrating Oprah

Oprah Winfrey: 10 Moments That Made an Icon

From sharing her toughest struggles to her greatest triumphs, here's how the host became the Queen of Talk

Updated: Monday May 23, 2011 | 04:00 PM EDT

WEIGHTY ISSUE

In 1988, Winfrey, dressed in size 10 jeans, stepped onto her set, pulling a wagon loaded with 67 lbs. of fat, representing the weight she'd lost over four months on a protein-shake diet. "I had literally starved myself," Winfrey has said. Within two hours after that show, she started gaining weight. "Within two days," she said, "those jeans no longer fit." It became one of her most-watched shows and Winfrey's weight remains a topic of intense interest.