Gayle King Admits She Begged Oprah to Shut Down Wild Lesbian Rumors Live on Her Show — 'It Used to Really Bother Me'
Gayle King addressed the longtime rumors that she and BFF Oprah Winfrey are gay.
May 27 2026, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
Gayle King has confessed it "really bothered" her for years that so many people speculated she and longtime best friend Oprah Winfrey were secretly lesbian lovers, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The CBS Mornings host, 71, revealed she even begged the media mogul to "say something" on her long-running daytime talk show to shut down the rumor, but Winfrey, 72, shockingly declined.
Gayle King Admits Lesbian Speculation Used to 'Really Bother Me'
King said she 'prefers' men while shooting down gay rumors.
"I tell you this, it used to really bother me," King told host Alex Cooper during a May 27 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast.
The morning show host went on to explain that after her 1993 divorce from attorney William Bumpus, a tabloid did a story that the reason for the split was that she and Winfrey were "secretly gay."
"Number one, if we were gay, we would tell you because, believe me, there's nothing wrong with it," King explained, adding, "It's just I prefer a man. I prefer a man."
Oprah Winfrey Refused to Address Gayle King Lesbian Rumors
King followed behind BFF Winfrey at a 2019 event.
"And then 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,'" King said she pleaded with Winfrey, whose eponymous syndicated daytime series ran for 25 seasons between September 1986 and May 2011.
"'You've got to say something.' And she said, 'No, we should just leave it be,'" the Maryland native recalled of Winfrey's response to squelching the rumors.
Despite more pleas, the TV titan told her pal, "No, I'm just going to leave it alone. Leave it alone."
'Now, I Really Don't Care'
Winfrey and Stedman Graham have an unconventional relationship and are rarely photographed together.
King said Winfrey's response frustrated her because her pal had been with her partner, Stedman Graham, since 1986. The pair briefly got engaged in 1992 but ultimately settled into a lifelong partnership outside of marriage.
"So, well, that's fine for you to say. You have somebody. I don't," King recalled, thinking about how she was upset at her BFF for refusing to address the lesbian rumors.
"So, it used to really bother me, and now even today there are still people that say, 'Well, you know, the truth is...,' the mother of two shared.
"I don't care. I've now gotten to the point in my life that very few things get to me because, you know, when you go on social media, it is an accelerator on hate," King shared. "As long as I feel good about what I'm doing...Otherwise, you'll drive yourself nuts. So now I really don't care."
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Gayle King Wants to Start Dating a 'Younger' Man
King said she'd 'really like to meet somebody' after years of being single.
King revealed that she's getting tired of the single life and is interested in meeting a much younger man.
"I would really like to meet somebody. I used to think I wanted to get married again. Now I'm not even thinking that. But I do think life is better when shared," the TV personality dished to Cooper.
"I do think it would be nice to meet somebody that thinks you're fun to hang out with. I would like younger. Not someone I could give birth to, but younger. You know, like Tom Brady's age," King said with a laugh about the 48-year-old retired NFL legend turned color commentator.
