Oprah Winfrey's interview with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong crowns a lengthy career of coaxing confessionals from celebrities.
The talk-show host, who secured an exclusive interview with Armstrong in the wake of his doping scandal, has often lent a sympathetic ear to a public face during the various incarnations of her show and persona.
She later told CBS This Morning the interview with Armstrong had been the "biggest" of her entire career.
A shoulder to cry on: Oprah Winfrey
Back in 2008 former drugs cheat Marion Jones appeared on Oprah's sofa six months after she was released from prison.
Jones wept three times and read out a letter she'd written to her children from prison. She said: "Oprah, I didn't love myself enough to tell the truth."
Oprah also played an instrumental part in Ellen DeGeneres' "coming out" live on TV in 1997. Winfrey played the part of a therapist who helped DeGeneres realise she was gay during the "puppy" episode of her namesake show.
Even if you didn't see the episode of Oprah with Tom Cruise on it, you probably know well enough what occurred. Stills and clips of Cruise leaping up and down on the sofa, loudly proclaiming his love for them fiancee Katie Holmes, went viral. As did mockery for the over-the-top proclamations of love.
Most recently Oprah has provided a shoulder to cry on for fellow talk-show host David Letterman. The pair discussed everything from his depression to his sex scandal in 2009.