Gayle King says rumours of secret lesbian romance with Oprah used to ‘bother’ her
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King (Getty Images)
Gayle King has candidly shared that the rumours surrounding her relationship with Oprah Winfrey used to “really bother” her.
King and Winfrey have been close friends for decades, but rumours that the pair were in a secret lesbian relationship began circulating in the nineties.
Alex Cooper, the host of Call Her Daddy, brought up the rumours with King in a 27 May episode of the podcast.
“Tell me how that feels when you guys have had to handle those headlines, handle those rumours, handle that speculation,” Cooper said.
“Well, I’ll tell you this: it used to really bother me,” King admitted.
“I was recently divorced,” she added, referencing her 1993 divorce from attorney William Bumpus. “The National Enquirer did a story about, ‘That’s the reason for the divorce, because they’re secretly gay.’”
King continued: “Number one, if we were gay, we would tell you. Because, believe me, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just, I prefer a man.”
The beloved TV personality went on to share that the rumours picked up so much steam that she asked Winfrey to make a public statement clarifying the platonic nature of their relationship.
“I would say to her, ‘You’ve got to say something on your show, because it’s hard enough for me to get a date on a Saturday night and now people think I’m a lesbian, you’ve gotta say something.’”
She explained that Winfrey saw things differently and thought it better to ignore the rumours. “I said, ‘Well, that’s fine for you to say. You have somebody. I don’t,’” King said.
She went on to say that she has got to a place in her life where “very few things” get to her.
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