CHICAGO -- Jennifer Aniston said she is at peace and on the road to recovery despite her high-profile divorce this year from Brad Pitt, a public break-up that has generated an enormous amount of attention.

Speaking Monday to talk show host Oprah Winfrey during the show's 20th season premiere, Aniston said she is ready for the next phase of her life.

"I'm doing so well," Aniston said to the applause of the audience. "Look at what's happening in the world in other places and look at what we have."

Winfrey, who generated a sizable amount of publicity of her own this summer when she was denied entry in the luxury Hermés boutique, also spoke out about that incident during a public make-up with the company's chief American executive.

But the lion's share of the show was devoted to Aniston.

Her conversation with Winfrey marked Aniston's first public comments on television about her split eight months ago with Pitt. The former "Friends" star graced the cover of the September issue of "Vanity Fair" magazine, during which she spoke extensively about her A-list relationship and the resulting break-up.

"Am I lonely? Yes. Am I upset? Yes. Am I confused? Yes," Aniston told the magazine. "Do I have my days when I've thrown a little pity party for myself? Absolutely. But I'm also doing really well."

The couple has filed for divorce, which was granted by the court and expected to become official in October.

Aniston repeated her statement to "Vanity Fair" that she will not be defined by her marriage or the image that she and Pitt were the perfect couple akin to the man and woman who sit on wedding cakes.

"It's created by the media," she said. Aniston said the media won't move on. Aniston said it's hard when she's moved on but the media hasn't. She said she wants to say "come on, people, turn a page."

Winfrey said she got to know Aniston this summer while Aniston was in Chicago filming "The Break Up" with Vince Vaughn. Aniston also denied the persistent speculation that she is dating Vaughn.

"You can't believe those tabloid magazines," she said, adding that she is ready to start dating again. While making the statement, she looked at her watch, a gesture that brought laughter from the studio audience.

Winfrey told the audience that she and her friends spent time recently with Aniston and her friends at the talk show host's estate in California. When Aniston and her friends arrived, they were followed by the paparazzi.