It's the end of an era.

On Nov. 20, a choked-up Oprah Winfrey confirmed the news no one wanted to believe: She'll be ending her ground-breaking daytime series, The Oprah Winfrey Show, after an extraordinary 25-year run.

"After much prayer and months of careful thought, I have decided that next season, season 25, will be the last season," she told viewers. "And over the next couple of days, you may hear a lot of speculation in the press about why I am making this decision now."

Oprah was right. Almost immediately, people started speculating about why the talk-show queen is calling it quits. Does she want to focus her energy on her new cable television channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)? Does she want to pave the way for her pal Dr. Mehmet Oz to succeed her on ABC in 2011, when her show ends? Is she admitting defeat because her average daily viewership slipped below 7 million last season, down 7 percent from previous years? Or is O simply burned out?

The real answer is none of the above, Oprah insisted when she made her emotional announcement.

For more on why Oprah quit, pick up the new issue of Life & Style, on newsstands now!

Photo Credit: Retna