Oprah Winfrey's last show ends in standing ovation

Oprah Winfrey ended her famous talk show today by telling her viewers of 25 years that they were not saying goodbye.

"I'll just say until we meet again," she added.

Winfrey hugged and kissed her partner Stedman Graham and shook hands with audience members before walking through the halls of Harpo Studios in Chicago, hugging and crying with her staff.

Earlier Winfrey walked on stage to a standing ovation from her studio audience. She thanked the viewers for watching for a quarter of a century.

"Twenty-five years and I'm still saying, 'Thank you America'," Winfrey said. "Thank you so much. There are no words to match this moment."

Winfrey told viewers that sometimes she was a teacher, but more often her viewers instructed her. She called the episode her "last class".

The shows that aired on Monday and Tuesday included Aretha Franklin, Tom Cruise, Stevie Wonder and Madonna.