Everything We Know About Gayle King's Sexuality

Gayle King's sexuality has been a hot-button topic for years — thanks, mostly, to her tight-knit friendship with her bestie, Oprah Winfrey. For years, folks have speculated about the true nature of the women's unprecedented bond, which as recently as April 2025 had Winfrey caught on camera shedding tears as King embarked on her controversial Blue Origin flight alongside an all-women crew. However, Winfrey wasn't engaging in pre-flight mourning, should something have gone wrong. She was overtaken with pride for King. "When people saw her crying, people said, 'Oh, she's so worried,'" Gayle shared with E! News following the flight. "... That wasn't it at all. She was crying because she knew what it took for me to do that ... she was saying, 'I'm so proud of you. You did that, and I'm so proud of you.'"

Of course, the support goes both ways. In September 2023, for example, King came to her bestie's defense after model Cindy Crawford recalled an unpleasant experience she had on Winfrey's show early in her career. "I haven't seen it, and I want to see it, but I'm surprised and a little disappointed," King shared with ET. "Because I know Cindy's been on her show many, many, many times and it has always been a pleasant experience, [so] I would hate to think that something that happened years ago [could have bothered her]." She continued, "It's not Oprah's thing to humiliate or make anybody feel badly." 

Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey's friendship has sparked interest in their sexual preferences. Winfrey has opened up about her sexuality, denying rumors that she was romantically linked to King. This speculation has persisted, despite Winfrey's long-standing romance with her life partner, Stedman Graham, whom she's been in a committed relationship with since 1986. It's also lasted through her BFF's own dating adventures, which kicked off after King's disastrous divorce in 1993. They've even denied the rumors of a romance together. "I used to say to 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,'" shared King on Melinda Gate's "Moments that Make Us" series. "Because if we were gay, we would tell you!"

King, who's also a supporter of gay marriage, made similar comments when speaking with Advocate in 2010. "Like I said before, I would so tell people if I was gay," King stated. "I used to think that we needed to do something to respond to that rumor — because it's hard enough to get a date on a Saturday night." King also revealed that the speculation insulted her because of the implication that she was lying. "I look forward to the day when people don't feel the necessity to hide who they are — or have the fear that people will not be accepting of who they are," she continued. "It's 2010, and I personally can't wait until this is no longer an issue for anybody — gay or straight."