Kirstie Alley

Kirstie Alley Donned a Bikini
It was one of the most anticipated moments in The Oprah Winfrey Show: actress Kirstie Alley, onstage, in nothing but a bikini and heels. 

Two years before the big reveal, in November 2004, Kirstie opened up to Oprah about her struggle with weight. Once a slender Hollywood starlet, she'd become a target for the paparazzi and her private battle had become very public news. "Honestly, I didn't know how fat I was," she said. "Thanks to the tabloids I went, 'Damn, girl, you're fat!'" 

Kirstie quit smoking the very next day and decided to change her life. Determined to drop a few dress sizes, she became a spokesperson for the Jenny Craig weight loss program. After losing 33 pounds, Kirstie said she burned her "fat pants." Over the next two years she continued to update Oprah on her progress, first revealing her diet plan and then showing off the dance moves that were helping her shed the weight.

The big bikini reveal came in 2006. After losing 75 pounds, Kirstie walked onstage in nothing but a red lace two-piece. It was a moment everyone was talking about. "You look beautiful," Oprah told Kirstie when she strutted her stuff. 

In the years since, Kirstie's weight has continued to fluctuate, and she's appeared on The Oprah Show to talk about "falling off the wagon" and her short-lived reality show Kirstie Alley's Big Life. These days, Kirstie is competing on Dancing with the Stars and says she's happily shedding the pounds. "I worked hard to lose, but it became something more for me," she said. "It was a spiritual journey."
Roseanne and Tom Arnold

Roseanne and Tom Arnold Appeared on The Oprah Show Together
Theirs was a very public divorce, but before the tabloids started splashing the alleged shouting matches all over the front pages, Roseanne and Tom Arnold were a happily married couple.

The pair had been married only a year when they first appeared on The Oprah Show together in 1991. In one memorable moment, Roseanne showed off the 10-carat ring her new husband had recently bought her. "This ring represents a lot," Tom said. "Besides my love for her...what that ring costs, if you took it to the bank, we could live on the interest from that on our farm in Iowa for the rest of our lives. So what that means is that she knows that she has it on her hand, and [knows] she doesn't ever have to take a job she doesn't want to do, do anything she doesn't want to do, because she's got it all right here for the rest of her life."

A year later, the couple appeared on The Oprah Show and opened up about trying to get pregnant. "We do that in vitro fertilization now," Roseanne said. "Last time I had six eggs, and they told me I could have one through 18 children. That's why I say I'm eating for 19."

In 1994, the couple ended their four-year marriage. They never had children together. 

Today, Roseanne is 58 years old and a grandmother of five, living on 50 acres of land in Hawaii. "I'm a farmer now, and it's fantastic," she told Oprah.
Chaz Bono

Chaz Bono Appeared as Chastity
Before he was Chaz, Cher and Sonny Bono's only child appeared on The Oprah Show as Chastity Bono.

Chastity had been in the public spotlight since she was born in 1969. But she really started making headlines in the 1990s, when her sexuality became tabloid fodder. In 1995, Chastity publicly came out on the cover of The Advocate. 

She appeared on The Oprah Show with her mother in 1998, talking about her new book, Family Outing, and about her personal experience with coming out. "I always, even as a young child, felt different," Chastity said. "I just didn't know what that was. But you know, when I was young the majority of my friends were boys. I just didn't fit in with girls, and then, as I got even a little bit older, when boys and girls started relating to each other, I didn't feel like I fit in anywhere."

About 10 years later, Chastity underwent female-to-male gender transition. In 2010, he legally changed his gender and his name to Chaz. 

His documentary Becoming Chaz will launch the OWN Documentary Film Club in May 2011. 

Watch a sneak peek of Becoming Chaz.
Charice

Charice Was Just a Newly Discovered Teenager
You might know Charice as the jaw-dropping voice behind foreign exchange student Sunshine Corazon on the musical TV series Glee, but before she hit primetime, Charice Pempengco was stunning Oprah Show viewers with her powerful pipes.

Charice's dream of becoming a singer began halfway around the world in the Philippines. She found a following on the Internet after a stranger posted her performances on YouTube.

Oprah's producers were among the 13 million people who logged on to watch the 16-year-old sensation sing songs made famous by artists like Celine Dion and Beyoncé. Then, in May 2008, Charice flew 15 hours to showcase her talent on The Oprah Show. She stole the show with a soul-stirring rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing."

Charice's voice wasn't the only thing that impressed Oprah. "One of the things I love most about Charice is that no matter what obstacles she's faced in her life, she's never given up on her dream of something better," Oprah said.

Over the next few years, Charice's career took off and her dreams came true. She continued to appear on The Oprah Show, updating fans on her performances with Andrea Bocelli, David Foster and Celine Dion.

Aside from her guest spot on Glee, Oprah's "most talented girl in the world" released her debut album in May, 2010.

Go behind the scenes of Charice's single "Pyramid"
Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson Smoked Onstage
Australian actor Mel Gibson has become something of a controversial figure in recent years. That wasn't the case when he appeared on the first season of The Oprah Show in 1987 to promote Lethal Weapon. 

Two years earlier, a 29-year-old Mel had been named People magazine's inaugural Sexiest Man Alive. Mel spoke about the honor, joking that his wife, Robyn, was just relieved to see that the magazine didn't say "The Sexiest Man Dead."

During this conversation, Mel did what no Oprah Show guest has done since: He smoked a cigarette on set!

At the time, Mel was expecting his fifth child. "You don't realize what [being a father] means before you do it," he said. "You can't conceive of what it is to feel for another person what you feel for that little person. It's a pleasant surprise."

In the 24 years since that appearance, Gibson went on to direct and star in a number of films, including the Oscar®-winning Braveheart. His personal life became a little more tumultuous—in 2006, Mel admitted to making anti-Semitic remarks when he had been arrested for driving under the influence, and entered a rehabilitation program. In 2011, he plead no contest to a misdemeanor spousal battery charge.
Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan Addressed the Tabloid Rumors
Actress Lindsay Lohan may make headlines more for her scandalous exploits than for her acting roles, but when she first appeared on The Oprah Show, the party-girl image was still something new.

Lindsay was on the show to promote the film Bobby in 2006. At the time, Oprah questioned her about her reputation but Lindsay denied being a so-called party girl. "I'm 20 years old. Is it a crime to go ... dancing with your friends? It's not. I have a life, and I have my family, and I have work."

In the years since, Lindsay has continued to be in the spotlight both for her private and personal endeavors. Since Bobby, she has starred in films including Georgia Rule and I Know Who Killed Me.
Barack Obama

Barack Obama Was Just a New Senator
He's currently the leader of the free world, but when President Obama first set foot on Oprah's stage, he was just a rising political star.

It was January 2005, and the then Senator had stolen the spotlight a few months earlier at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He had given the keynote speech in support of candidate Senator John Kerry, and his words touched Americans all over the country. The Illinois Senator spoke about "the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him too." GQ magazine named him one of their Men of the Year, and Newsweek declared this rising star the one to watch in 2005.

At the time of his first Oprah Show appearance, Obama was the only African-American in the Senate. He told Oprah, "My greatest hope is to be able to pass the same dreams and hope and vision that I've been able to enjoy in my life on to the next generation. Not just for my children—because with a mother like [Michelle], my kids are going to be great—but for all children. There are too many children in this country for whom the American dream is so distant and the odds against them are so daunting."

A year later, Senator Obama returned to The Oprah Show upon the release of his second book, The Audacity of Hope. Obama hadn't yet announced his intentions to run for president, but the presidential buzz had started. "I know I don't just speak for myself," Oprah said. "There are a lot of people who would want you to run for the presidency of the United States."

No matter what his intentions were at the time, a presidential bid must have been on wife Michelle's mind. "In my view...I want the next president to be someone who understands what it means to be a father and a husband and is contributing. Because I don't think he can represent those values for us as a nation if he can't do it in his own house," Michelle said. "Whoever [the president] may be."
Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld Did Stand-Up
In 1986, Seinfeld wasn't the name of a hit TV show. It wasn't even a household name. The name belonged to stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who appeared on the very first season of The Oprah Show in 1986.

The episode was a comedy showcase that included Roseanne Barr, Louie Anderson,Richard Lewis, Wil Shriner and Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry did his signature "What is the deal?" bit, including commentary on Halloween, cotton balls and candy.

Three years later, in 1989, The Seinfeld Chronicles premiered. It was soon renamed Seinfeld and went on to a nine-season run, becoming one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. When the show ended in 1998, the cast came on The Oprah Show to say goodbye. They reunited on Oprah's stage in 2004, when the first three seasons came out on DVD.

Today, Jerry is the executive producer and an occasional guest judge on the reality show The Marriage Ref. Each week, couples state their cases to a panel of celebrities—which have included everyone from Alec Baldwin to Madonna—and they weigh in on which spouse is right. But the final call is made by the marriage ref himself, stand-up comedian Tom Papa. The second season of the show will premiere in June 2011.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Oprah Danced with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Remember those heroes in a half shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? In 1990 they were all the rage, winning the hearts of American children, their parents and even Oprah! They had a platinum album, were on a nationwide concert tour and were "the kings of Saturday morning TV."
 
Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello appeared on The Oprah Show in 1990 and sang four numbers: "Coming Out of Our Shells!," "Count on Us," "Walk Straight" and "Pizza Power."

The first animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series ran for nine years, from 1987 to 1996. Since then, there has been a live-action series and a second incarnation of the animated series. Nickelodeon is currently developing a CGI-animated version as well.
Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods Was a 26-Year-Old Superstar
Golf phenom Tiger Woods first appeared on The Oprah Show in 1997 at 26 years old. He had emerged on the professional golf scene only one year earlier, when he played his first round of professional golf at the Greater Milwaukee Open. In 1996, he was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year and the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

Tiger's visited The Oprah Show with his father, Earl Woods, and talked about his book, Training a Tiger. It was his first interview after winning the Masters. When Oprah introduced him she said "Tiger Woods transcends golf. He is magical and mesmerizing. He is just what our world needs right now, don't you think? I call him America's Son."

When asked where his grace and charm come from, Tiger told Oprah that it was all natural. "Overall, I am happy and content with myself. There is nothing stirring inside of me. I am happy being Tiger Woods, there is nothing more I can say. It just comes out."

Tiger went on to win three more Masters. He also won three U.S. Opens three, British Opens, and four PGA Championships.

In 2004, Tiger married Elin Nordegren, a Swedish former model who had been the au pair to a Swedish golfer. The couple have two children and have since divorced.