KATE and Gerry McCann flew to the United States yesterday to film an interview for the Oprah Winfrey Show to mark two years since their daughter Madeleine’s disappearance.

The couple will use their high-profile appearance on the programme to release new images of how the missing girl may look now.

Liverpool-born Kate McCann and her husband flew out of Heathrow Airport just after midday accompanied by their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, and Emma Loach, director of a Channel 4 documentary to be shown after the May 3 anniversary.

They will first visit the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia, whose experts have created the computer-aged pictures of Madeleine.

Tomorrow, the group will travel to Chicago, where Mr and Mrs McCann will record the interview with Winfrey on Friday before returning to the UK early on Sunday. Mr Mitchell said the couple had agreed to appear on the famous US talk show because of its massive global reach – it is broadcast in 144 countries around the world.

He said: “Oprah had been pressing for an interview from very early on. Initially, Kate and Gerry were focused entirely on the search for Madeleine on the ground.

“They were reluctant to do a programme perceived by some as celebrity-based – they certainly didn’t feel they were celebrities and were loath to do anything that had that feel about it.”