Rosie O'Donnell: 5 Things You Didn’t Know

Oprah Winfrey has officially crowned her choice to take over the talk kingdom. Rosie O’Donnell not only shares the cover of the current O magazine (which is only the third time she has ever done so), but Winfrey even immortalized the passing of the torch in stone. On Thursday, Winfrey and O’Donnell unveiled a new sign at Harpo Studios, which reads, “The Rosie Show. Former Home of The Oprah Winfrey Show."

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O’Donnell isn’t exactly an unknown, but in the process of promoting her new daytime talk show premiering Oct. 10 on OWN, she has let fans in on her life more than she has in years.

Here are 5 things you may not have known about O’Donnell.

1. She credits hormones for helping her return to a daytime show. “I think I had a lot more rage than I was aware of, but I've gotten back access to my other feelings, I'm not cut off from my emotions any more,” she tells Access Hollywood. “I think without Estrogen it would not have been possible for me to be here doing this show.”

2. She has exchanged her famous celebrity crush on Tom Cruise for one on Russell Brand. “[Tom Cruise] knows I will always love him and he's okay with it. He knows I've moved on," she says to Access Hollywood. “I became fascinated with [Russell Brand] and I googled everything he ever did.” Upon meeting him she says, “I have been marinating in you, I knew this would happen, you are genius.”

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3. Piers Morgan won't be a guest on her show anytime soon. She tells Access Hollywood, “He banned Madonna for no reason when his show started, so I'm banning Piers Morgan! I don't have anybody banned but if I have to make a list, he's on it.”

4. She didn’t plan for a career past age 40. Her mother died at the young age of 39 from breast cancer, so O’Donnell believed she should live it up before 40. “So I was gonna make all my success and then retire at 40, and guess what? I did that,” she tells reporters at the most recent Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour. “And then I went home, and every year I would have my mammogram and say, ‘Is it now?’ And the doctor keeps going, ‘No. You're healthy. You could lose a little weight, but you're all right.’  Every year.  Then I finally realized, 'Crap. I may live.' You know? So I needed a plan for act two."

5. Winfrey still makes her anxious. “I'm still nervous when she calls,” she says. “Like backstage, they're like ‘Oprah's backstage. She's come in from Hawaii to introduce you in this.’ There's a moment when I walk in and go ‘Get your s--t together, O'Donnell. It's Winfrey. Come on. Kick it up a notch.”

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro