{"id":364078,"date":"2026-10-04T11:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T11:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364078\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T11:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T11:00:10","slug":"the-undisputed-queens-of-90s-daytime-talk-shows-see-their-lives-and-very-different-looks-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364078\/","title":{"rendered":"The undisputed queens of ’90s daytime talk shows \u2014 see their lives and VERY different looks today"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ’90s created several of the most iconic talk shows and their success was largely down to the queens of daytime television who hosted chats on everything from teenage troubles to celebrity interviews and polarising political issues. Read on to find out where these famous hosts are today and see their total transformation…<\/p>\n

\"Split\u00a9 Getty Images,Variety via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ricki Lake found talk show success for over a decade<\/p>\n

Ricki Lake<\/p>\n

Ricki Lake worked as host on her self-titled talk show between 1993 and 2004, debuting when Ricki was just 24 years old. She’d already broken into mainstream fame in John Waters’ 1988 musical Hairspray\u00a0and appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. While other hosts in the ’90s appealled to an older demographic, Ricki Lake\u00a0was targeted at younger audiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2012, she returned to the world of talk shows, earning a Daytime Emmy for The Ricki Lake Show.\u00a0Today, she’s still using her hosting talents for podcast The High Life with Ricki Lake, discussing midlife, divorce and wellbeing, as well as working as a producer with projects like The Business of Birth Control.<\/p>\n

\"Split\u00a9 Getty Images<\/p>\n

Oprah is still a chat show icon today<\/p>\n

Oprah Winfrey<\/p>\n

Oprah Winfrey’s talk show has brought viewers plenty of iconic on-screen moments, from Tom Cruise’s couch-jumping as he declared his love for Katie Holmes to gifting each of her audience members with a brand new Pontiac G6 in 2004.<\/p>\n

Her iconic talk show wrapped in 2011 and she’s since published several books including, What I Know for Sure\u00a0(2014) \u2013 a collection of essays from O, The Oprah Magazine \u2013 The Wisdom of Sundays\u00a0(2017) and Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It’s Like To Be Free\u00a0(2026).<\/p>\n

\"Split\u00a9 Getty Images,Toronto Star via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jenny Jones has stepped away from the spotlight<\/p>\n

Jenny Jones<\/p>\n

The comedian hosted The Jenny Jones Show\u00a0for 12 seasons, debuting in 1991 and cutting cameras in 2003. Former actress Jenny Jones turned her attention to several typical talk show topics, including paternity tests and teenage bullying.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, she’s focusing her energy on a quieter life with her partner Denis McCallion, sharing occasional updates on her website<\/a> including birthday photos, Christmas poems and pictures of produce from the garden.<\/p>\n

\"Split\u00a9 Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images,Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sally Jessy Raphael hosted her show for 23 seasons<\/p>\n

Sally Jessy Raphael<\/p>\n

Known for her iconic red glasses, Sally Jessy Raphael covered every talk show topic under the sun, from tabloid tales to teen troubles and celebrity interviews alongside everyday stories. The show ran for a total of 23 seasons, airing from 1983 to 2002.<\/p>\n

Now retired, the 91-year-old is still occasionally shares updates on her life, including a 2026 episode on her YouTube channel taking a look back at promotional videos for her famous talk show.<\/p>\n

\"Split\u00a9 ImageDirect via Getty Images,WireImage via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Rosie O’Donnell won five Daytime Emmy Awards<\/p>\n

Rosie O’Donnell<\/p>\n

The Rosie O’Donnell Show\u00a0ran between 1996 and 2002, crowning the host the Queen of Nice. The talk show lasted 1193 episodes across 6 seasons and won five Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Talk Show. When her bank account reached $100 million, the star host stepped back to focus on her family and philanthropy efforts.<\/p>\n

She’s since relocated from New York to Ireland with her youngest child Clay, sharing TikTok videos talking on politics and parenting as well as guest-hosting\u00a0Jimmy Kimmel Live!. It’s clear Rosie hasn’t run out of energy<\/a> \u2013 if anything, she’s even more of a talking talent today.<\/p>\n

\"Split\u00a9 Getty Images<\/p>\n

Leeza Gibbon is now a dedicated philanthropist<\/p>\n

Leeza Gibbon<\/p>\n

Emmy Award-winning host Leeza Gibbons had several hits through the ’90s, working as a co-host for Entertainment Tonight\u00a0and creating her own talk show Leeza, which ran between 1993 and 2000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She’s not hung up the microphone just yet, working as host and executive producer of Remarkable Women, a celebration of women’s contribution to local communities. Leeza also focuses her time and efforts on advocacy as the founder of Leeza’s Care Connection, a charity providing support for the families of those with Alzheimer’s.<\/p>\n

\"Split\u00a9 Corbis via Getty Images,Getty Images<\/p>\n

Rolonda Watts is still finding success as an actress<\/p>\n

Rolonda Watts<\/p>\n

Rolonda\u00a0ran for just four seasons across three years, from 1994 to 1997, but made an impact on the talk show scene that’s remembered to this day. It tackled all of the typical talk show topics but also investigated then-taboo subjects such as sex work and exploitative street recruitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rolonda has recently appeared on screen in comedy series Mind Your Business\u00a0and Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest,\u00a0as well as voice acting in Adult Swim’s animated series Invincible Fight Girl\u00a0in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The ’90s created several of the most iconic talk shows and their success was largely down to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[191,57771,10370,9,24,5406,63,83758,122,124,123,13894,618],"class_list":["post-364078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-celebrity-news","tag-celebrity-transformations","tag-gallery","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nostalgia","tag-nyc","tag-oprah","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-tv-and-film","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}