Oprah reveals 'serious' secret health battle to Ellen DeGeneres

Oprah Winfrey recently battled pneumonia.

The 65-year-old media mogul revealed this week that she was recently diagnosed with the infection - in which the air sacs in the lungs become inflamed and fill with fluid or pus - and whilst she's back to full health now, she has described the condition as "serious".

Recalling the day she received her diagnosis, she said: "[My doctor] puts a stethoscope here [over her heart] and I see the 'Oh s**t' face. It's like, 'Oh my, something's wrong with you,' and I can see it, and he didn't hide it. I said, 'I told you it sounds like a rattlesnake in there.' He said, 'You must immediately cancel everything.'

"I've never canceled anything in my life. I work when I'm sick. He said, 'You can't fly anywhere for a month' and then he had 18 vials of blood drawn and I thought, this must be serious because I saw his face."

Oprah Winfrey has revealed her secret health battle. Photo / Getty Images

Thankfully, Oprah recovered after a week of being on antibiotics, and says her doctor was so pleased to see she had made a full recovery, that he asked her for a hug.

She added during an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show: "He called me every day to make sure I was using the inhaler and taking the right antibiotics, and when I walked in and I was better, he thanked me three times for getting better, and said, 'Can I have a hug?' And I could tell he was like, 'Not on my watch is this going to happen.' "

Oprah isn't the only star to have battled pneumonia recently, as Whoopi Goldberg was diagnosed with the illness earlier this year, and was told she had a "30 per cent chance" of dying after being hospitalised as a result.

Her pulmonologist Martin Greenberg said in May: "She had a chance of dying of 30 per cent, 1 in 3."

Whilst her physician Jorge Rodriguez added: "She was gasping for air. She couldn't breathe. Her teeth were chattering, she was obviously in what we call rigors [uncontrollable shivers]."

- Bang! Showbiz