Gayle King was 'really bothered' by Oprah Winfrey dating rumours

Gayle King has admitted that she used to be "really bothered" by the long-running rumour that she was secretly dating her friend Oprah Winfrey.

The CBS Mornings co-anchor has admitted that the rumour she and Oprah were "secretly gay" and in a relationship really got to her following her divorce from William Bumpus in 1993.

"It used to really bother me. I was recently divorced and the National Enquirer did a story about (how) that's the reason for the divorce, because they're secretly gay," she said on the Call Her Daddy podcast.

"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. I prefer a man."

The 71-year-old explained that she urged Oprah, who has been in a relationship with Stedman Graham since 1986, to shut down the rumour on her eponymous talk show, but she refused to publicly address the speculation.

She recalled telling her 72-year-old friend, "(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."

However, Oprah insisted it was best to "just leave it be".

While the TV star's handling of the situation used to bother Gayle, she doesn't care about the rumour anymore.

"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," she added.

The Oprah Winfrey Show host previously addressed the rumour on the Moments That Make Us YouTube series in 2024.

"Maybe people aren't accustomed to seeing women with this kind of truth bond," she shared. "The reason why I think our friendship has worked is because Gayle is happier, not happy, for me in any kind of success or victory or challenge I get through than I am for myself."