As the talk show queen signs off, friends worry she’s already regretting her decision and is becoming dangerously depressed.

When Oprah Winfrey’s legendary chat show comes to an end this week, it will be the finish of a 25-year journey that has captivated the world. But while her achievements over the last quarter of a century are the stuff of legend, those closest to Oprah say the ending is a sad one – and that Oprah is already showing frightening symptoms of being seriously depressed.

The surest sign is, as always, the 57-year-old TV favourite’s weight. “Oprah is definitely at least six or seven kilos heavier than she was in March,” reveals a close friend of Oprah, speaking exclusively to Woman’s Day. “Her designers are doing their best to hide it, but this is much more than her usual kilo-or-two fluctuation.

“She’s gaining weight because she’s been eating more and more sweets late at night in order to cheer herself up. It’s always been her coping mechanism for depression. The problem is that then she gains weight, and that only makes the depression worse!”

When Oprah revealed her show would come to an end this year, she told her celebrity friends, including favourite guest Jennifer Aniston, that she wanted to “go out on top” and “move on to even bigger things”. But with her final show just a few days away, that sense of optimism has evaporated and Oprah is spending her private hours wallowing in self-doubt and worry.

“What you need to realise is that Oprah has always been a tremendously emotional person – that has always been a big part of her success,” explains our source, who used to work for Oprah’s company Harpo Productions.