Oprah Winfrey wearing giant afro wig on O Magazine cover

Oprah Winfrey is wearing a giant afro wig on the cover of the September issue of her magazine O.

Oprah Winfrey, 59, who is featured on the cover of every issue, released the image on her social media accounts on Monday.

In her monthly magazine column, the media mogul nicknamed the wig Wild Thang and likened wearing the 3.5-pound weave to “carrying around an extra head”.

“I wish I could say it was all mine,” Oprah Winfrey said in her monthly magazine column.

“My own hair is shorter, not quite to spherical, and a lot lighter. But that doesn’t mean it never gives me grief. When it comes to hair, I’m in the same boat as most every other woman.”

Dressed in a figure-hugging orange dress and simple gold jewellery, Oprah Winfrey was so enamored with the photo that she made it her profile picture on Facebook  and Twitter.

Oprah Winfrey wrote: “Just revealed this new over of O, The Oprah Magazine – one of my faves ever – Let’s talk about HAIR! Love this cover so much, I’m making it my new profile pic!”

“For almost 30 years, I’ve had the luxury of a hairdresser, Andre Walker, who loves all kinds of textures and adores experimenting,” she added.

“Hence this month’s cover; we call the wig I’m wearing Wild Thang!”

Oprah has addressed the issue of having a “natural” hairstyle in the past, saying she prefers to wear her hair without blow-drying or straitening on weekends and on holiday.

“This is the <<do>> my grandmother had to deal with when I was a little girl, braiding and unbraiding it regularly to keep it strong,” she said in an editorial published in the September 2012 issue of O Magazine.

“I like wearing my hair this way on the weekends and on vacation – it makes me feel unencumbered.”

Oprah Winfrey continued, saying her best friend Gayle King refers to her natural locks as looking like “you put your finger in a light socket”.

This is not the first time Oprah Winfrey has undergone a major transformation in her more than three decades in the spotlight.

The talk show host endeared herself with viewers by not being afraid to tackle tough subjects including her struggles with weight and her appearance.

In 1988 Oprah famously returned from a summer hiatus carrying out a wagon with a large block of fat to represent her nearly 70 pound weight loss.

Over the years her look has changed as her figure has yo-yo’d up and down in size, her hair also taking a hit as she has worn it curly, straightened, and often resorted to wearing wigs.

“I’ve worn weaves on the show,” she said.

“I’ve worn weaves on the magazine covers.”

While she continues to be an influence to her more than 20 million Twitter followers and 8.4 million more on Facebook, Oprah has struggled to find an audience for her OWN network Since calling quits to her popular syndicated program in 2011.

In her new interview programme Oprah’s Next Chapter, she has sat down with many celebrity names, including landing the first big interviews with disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong and fresh out of rehab starlet Lindsay Lohan.

Oprah Winfrey is next set to appear in her first movie role since 1985’s The Color Purple in The Butler with Forest Whitaker.