Once upon a time in the land of crab cakes and the Ravens, Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King became besties while working together at WJZ-TV in the magical kingdom of Baltimore, Maryland. Fast forward a few decades, and these two are still as thick as thieves, only now they’re stealing hearts instead of news stories.
In a recent episode of “Moments That Make Us,” Oprah and Gayle had a chinwag with Melinda French Gates. Naturally, the conversation took a detour from discussing age to addressing the ever-entertaining rumors that these two are more than just friends.
Oprah, with the wisdom of a thousand talk shows, said, “You know, for years, people used to say we were gay, and listen, we were up against that forever. And people still may think it.” She probably had a secret tally somewhere titled “How Many Times People Have Asked if We’re Gay.”
Gayle, always the wingwoman, chimed in, “I used to say, ‘Oprah, you gotta do a show on this because it’s hard enough for me to get a date on Saturday night with people thinking we’re gay.’ Because if we were gay, we’d tell you!” One can only imagine the countless suitors confused by the dynamic duo’s legendary bond.
Oprah thinks the rumors persist because people “aren’t used to seeing women with this kind of truth bond.” And let’s face it, their friendship is like a unicorn riding a rainbow – rare and magical.
She continued, “The reason why I think our friendship has worked is because Gayle is happier, not just happy, but happier for me for any kind of success or victory or challenge I get through than I am for myself. And I feel as happy as she does – I can’t be happier than, cannot surpass Gayle. You cannot out-happy her. I am equally as happy for her.” In other words, if happiness were an Olympic sport, Gayle would have all the gold medals, and Oprah would be cheering the loudest from the sidelines.
Oprah and Gayle: the friendship that launched a thousand rumors and out-happy’d them all.