Bridgette's Big Break

After producing Season 25 showstoppers like the return to Williamson and Jon Stewart, senior producer Jack is being lent to the Oprah Winfrey Network to help before the network launch. That gives his co-producer Bridgette a rare opportunity to step up and produce during The Oprah Show's final season. "Bridgette's going to be the leader of her team. She's going to be in pre-show meetings with Oprah and giving Oprah information directly," executive producer Sheri says. "It is a make-or-break moment. Get your chance, you better be ready."

Watch Jack deliver the news to Bridgette 

In honor of what would have been John F. Kennedy Jr.'s 50th birthday, Bridgette is producing a look back at Oprah's 1996 interview with him. "She's going to do wrap-arounds, kind of commenting and reflecting on her original show," she says. "It's kind of stressful because I will interview Oprah for two hours about the show. I'm writing questions and will be giving her direction."

Oprah says that show had many layers for her. "I remember where I was when John F. Kennedy Sr. was assassinated—in the fifth grade, Ms. Stag's class, walking home," Oprah says. "I remember John-John at the time. I lived through that era when they were Camelot and he literally was the prince of this country."

The day before the show tapes, Bridgette is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. pre-show meeting with Oprah. "There's a lot of expectation and a lot of pressure," Bridgette says. "I already feel that now but there's somebody above me that can take the blame a little bit. Now it's all going to be on me."

But during breakfast, Bridgette starts feeling sick. "I was eating my breakfast—cottage cheese, flaxseed and raspberries," she says. "My eyes started to kind of itch a little bit. I couldn't breathe. Everyone on my team was like, 'You need to get to the emergency room right now.'"

Bridgette arrives at the emergency room to discover she's having a near-fatal allergic reaction to raspberries. "It's my first ever one-on-one—just me and Oprah pre-show—and I am not missing it for an allergic reaction to raspberries," she says. "This happened on the worst day possible."

Watch Bridgette's ER visit

Bridgette is treated and released just in time to make her meeting with Oprah. 

Oprah is relieved Bridgette is okay—and still passionate about the show. "Having done it for 25 years, it was refreshing for me to see Bridgette with that kind of excitement that I now take for granted," Oprah says.

The morning of taping, Bridgette meets with Oprah to run through last-minute details of the show. "I've decided that I'm not going to eat anything this morning just to be extra sure," she says. "I feel anxious. I hope it goes well, no snafus. I'm excited but I'm definitely feeling the pressure."

Bridgette tells Oprah she needs 14 minutes of Oprah's commentary to complete the show. Oprah is surprised to hear she needs so much. "I didn't think that was a lot but maybe it is," she says. "I hadn't been worried about it up to that point, but at that moment I was."

Still, she has support in the control room. "I know that she's going to be worried about if she can operate at this level," Sheri says. "I'm rooting for Bridgette."

For two hours, Bridgette interviews Oprah in the control room about John F. Kennedy Jr. and the 1996 interview. "I was deeply affected by his death for a long time and still can't cross a body of water without thinking about it," Oprah says. "I cannot fathom why John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife and her sister had to leave us at that time."

As Bridgette guides Oprah, Sheri steps in once to help advance the interview. "There's definitely one minute where Sheri was like, 'Bridge, tell Oprah...,'" she says. "It's definitely a dance, but it's important that I'm prepared for any potential question she throws at me."

At the end of the day, the taping is a success. "First show, not bad. It feels really good," Bridgette says. "Oprah is Oprah Winfrey. For her to say good job and give me those accolades, it's priceless. It feels really good."

See what Oprah had to say about John F. Kennedy Jr.

Meanwhile, Jenna's team is preparing to interview not one but two sitting presidents. Inside their interview with George W. Bush and his father