Oprah Winfrey has finally revealed the secret to her success: one fateful date back in 1986 with film critic Roger Ebert.

On a recent episode of her phenomenally successful daytime talk show, Oprah took her viewers on a nostalgic trip through 20 years of television's "The Oprah Winfrey Show," pinpointing her decision to go into syndication as the turning point in her career. Then the host of small-time gabfest "AM Chicago," Oprah first met Ebert when he and then-partner, Gene Siskel, appeared on a Baltimore-area show she was hosting. Soon after, the two went on a date (according to Ebert's website, it was actually two dates). Naturally, he took her to the movies, then to one of the classier joints in town -- Hamburger Hamlet. They talked syndication, he gave her some business contacts, and the rest is history.

Nearly twenty years later, the Academy Award-nominated media hyphenate has her own talk show, her own magazine, an entire cable television channel, produces a Broadway musical, and has an estimated net worth of $1 billion.