DAVE CHAPPELLE - CHAPPELLE TO TELL ALL TO WINFREY

Comedian DAVE CHAPPELLE will appear on OPRAH this Friday (03FEB06) in his first TV interview since walking away from his $50 million (GBP27.7 million) television deal.

The stand-up comedian made headlines last year (05) when he abruptly quit THE CHAPPELLE SHOW on US network COMEDY CENTRAL and left behind the multi-million deal.

Chappelle was one of the hottest comedians in the US when he mysteriously disappeared while filming the third season of the hit show.

He was eventually tracked down in South Africa where he said he had gone to "purify himself," and "do some soul searching" because he was unhappy with the direction his show was going.

The comedian is expected to explain to Winfrey what actually happened and address rumours that he suffered a mental breakdown.