Oprah Winfrey has revealed the real reason why she’s ending her daytime talk show after 25 years on the air. In an editorial published in her ‘O’ magazine this month, Oprah revealed that a dying 12-year-old boy told her to end her show at the 25-year mark:

Winfrey says that Mattie Stepanek – a child author who had a rare form of muscular dystrophy – told her that she should end the Oprah show only after it had been on the air for 25 years. He sent her the e-mail in May 2003, 13 months before he died at the age of 13.

Winfrey, 57, says: ‘At the 20-year mark, I was almost certain that the time was finally right to call it a day (although I was uncertain about what to do next.)

‘That’s when I received an e-mail from Mattie Stepanek.

Winfrey has published the entire e-mail that Stepanek wrote to her from his hospital bed. In it he told the millionaire: ‘I know that you are planning to retire your show on its 20th anniversary. ‘It is my opinion that you should wait to stop your daytime show on its 25th anniversary. Let me explain why.

‘Twenty-five makes more sense to me, partially because I am a bit OCD [obsessive compulsive] and 25 is a perfect number.’