Jodie Foster's making all the Golden Globes headlines after she made a rather emotional speech when accepting the the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.

"While I'm here being all confessional, I guess I just have just a sudden urge to say something that I've never really been able to air in public," she smiled coyly. "A declaration that I'm a little nervous about - but maybe not quite as nervous as my publicist right now. I'm just going to put it out there -loud and proud."

Known for being a rather private person, Jodie clearly got the tears going among the audience as she spoke out about her sexuality, her sons Charles (14) and Kit (12) and her mother, who suffers from dementia. The nerves started to show when she paused and asked the crowd for support, but the silence was swiftly broken when the actress revealed she was single and close friend Mel Gibson dropped a rather loud wolf whistle. Ain't he a dote?

But Jodie didn't stop there. "This is not going to be a big coming out speech tonight because I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the stone age - in those very quaint days when a fragile girl would open up to trusted friends and family and coworkers and then gradually proudly to everyone who knew her," she said. "But now apparently I'm told that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime time reality show." Hear that young Hollywood? She's not gettin a lifetime achievement award for nothin now is she?

Then came the weepy bits. First Jodie thanked her "heroic co-parent, my ex partner in love, but righteous soul sister in life. My confessor... most beloved BFF of 20 years, Cydney Bernard", before going on to tell her sons that they were her "reason to breathe and to evolve. Boys, in case you didn't know it, this song, like all of this, this song is for you."

There wasn't a dry eye in the house when she paid tribute to her 84-year-old mother, Evelyn 'Brandy' Almond, who suffers from dementia. "I love you, I love you, I love you and I hope if I say this three times, it will magically and perfectly enter into your soul, fill you with grace and the joy of knowing that you did good in this life" Jodie said. And the audience wept, in the room and from the couch. Foster fought back her own tears as she said "You're a great mom. Please take that with you when you're finally okay to go."

We genuinely thought Jodie was headed for retirement when she said "This feels like the end of one era and the beginning of something else - scary and exciting." Don't worry though, once she got backstage she was quick to dispel that rumour. "Oh no, I could never stop acting. You'd have to drive me behind a team of horses" she said. Phew!

She appeared to hint at retirement at the close of her speech, saying: 'This feels like the end of one era and the beginning of something else – scary and exciting.' But once she got backstage the star denied she was stepping away from the public eye, adding: 'Oh no, I could never stop acting. You'd have to drive me behind a team of horses.'

>Stars show support for 'out' Jodie Foster
>Get the full list of Golden Globe winners right here.