Top five TV moments: Oprah Winfrey

Deemed by far the most influential women of the world television, Oprah Winfrey is hosting an online auction this week for charity after a major home clear out. Speaking of the project, Winfrey has said "It is my idea of a yard sale, and just like everybody, you start accumulating stuff. I've been accumulating things since 1985. It's just too much stuff, and I write about it a lot in my magazine, we talk about de-cluttering and I realise I needed to de-clutter my own life." Winfrey will donate the proceeds from the event to her leadership academy for girls in South Africa.

To mark the auction, we've made an edit ourselves... Here's five of the television star's landmark TV interview triumphs throughout her 25-year career.

Barack and Michelle Obama: 2011 

The President and First Lady of the United States were among the last guests on the show Oprah, before it finished in May 2011. For Michelle, who regularly appears on TV shows like this, a chat show appearance was pretty standard procedure. Barack, however, is another story.

Tom Cruise: 2005

During a discussion on The Oprah Winfrey Show about his new relationship with Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise famously jumped up and down on the couch and emotionally proclaimed his feelings. We all remember how awkward it was. Seven years later, Cruise and Holmes have produced a child, Suri Cruise, and are now divorced. 

Friends: 2003

America's goodbye to the television series Friends was long and painful. The last episode was released in 2004, but during the autumn of 2003, when the tenth and final season had started, Oprah met with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Le Blanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer on set. The interview was divided into several sections like mini-episodes themselves.

Paul McCartney: 1997

Sir Paul McCartney went on Oprah during the year he presented his solo album Flaming Pie after a four year hiatus. He discussed with Winfrey the trials of launching his new record, his time with The Beatles and his love for wife at the time, Linda. Six months after the interview Linda McCartney sadly died of breast cancer, aged 57.

Michael Jackson: 1993

Oprah's interview with Michael Jackson, held at his estate in 1993, was watched by more than 90 million viewers. The episode was among the highest rated in the history of American TV. After 20 years, the impact of this interview on the world of media and entertainment is impossible to measure.