After hosting many family reunions on her talk show, US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey had a reunion of her own, between her and her half sister.

The U.S talk show host said the revelation that she had a half sister, whose existence was kept secret from her for 47 years had left her 'shocked to the core.' It was in November Winfrey, 56, learnt  that her mother Vernita Lee had another daughter, Patricia, who was given up for adoption shortly after her birth in 1963.

According to The Daily Mail, Winfrey said that at the time she was eight and living with her father, leaving her completely unaware that her mother was pregnant. She revealed the news on her talk show on her US TV network OWN. Winfrey said Patricia had been searching to be reunited with her family for years and had finally met them on Thanksgiving Day last year.

"I thought I'd seen it all. But this, my friends, is the miracle of all miracles. I was given some news that literally shook me to my core. This time, I'm the one being reunited," The Guardian cites Winfrey as saying in a promotional spot for her show.

Patricia, who did not reveal her last name, said she started thinking Oprah might have been her half sister after seeing an interview with Vernita Lee on television. The information Lee gave, coincided with what she already knew about her birth family. She said she tried to track down Lee but was unsuccessful.

However, she managed to contact Oprah's niece and DNA tests confirmed the pair were related. The DNA test proved that Patricia was an 85 per cent match to Winfrey's niece, daughter of Winfrey's sister named Patricia who died in 2003. Patricia then contacted Winfrey to say she suspected they were half sister, this later led to Oprah confronting her mother who confirmed that she was her half sister.

Piers Morgan interviewed Winfrey for his first show last week, but she failed to mention her half sister.