Is Oprah Leaving Her Beloved Chicago?

As expected, The Mighty O announced this morning that until she comes back to our TV screens we will have to find another show to tell us what books to read if we want to keep our American citizenship. And I mean that. The FBI will knock on your door if they find out you’re not a student of The University of O. Anyway…..

Oprah got teary when she told her studio audience and the world, “So here we are, halfway through Season 24 and it still means as much to me to spend an hour with you as it did back in 1986. So why walk away and make next season the last? Here is the real reason. I love this show. This show has been my life. And I love it enough to know when it’s time to say goodbye. Twenty-five years feels right in my bones and feels right in my spirit. It’s the perfect number. The exact right time. So I hope that you will take this 18-month ride with me, right through to the final show.”

Oprah hasn’t officially said what she’s going to do once her show goes off the air in 2011, but Deadline’s Nikki Finke claims that she’s already making plans. Apparently, Oprah is packing up Gayelle King and shuffling off to California to begin working on another show she’s going to do on her OWN (that’s really the name) cable network.

A source said that Oprah is in the process of choosing which Chicago staff members she’s going to take to California. She’s not going to take everyone since her new show is going to be “more intimate.” Oprah was also overheard telling one of her employees, “Why would anybody stay in Chicago? It’s freezing here, and I have a mansion in Montecito that I haven’t been able to enjoy.”

To which the citizens of Montecito said (as they hitchhiked out of town), “Why would anybody stay in Montecito now that Oprah is here full-time?”