Why Did Oprah Once Feel Her Friendship With Gayle King Could Be In Trouble?
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King are pretty much the epitome of best friends. Oprah and Gayle, Laverne and Shirley, Joey and Chandler, Hoda and Kathie Lee, BFFs forever, right? Well, not so much. Despite the two being close as close can be for more than four decades (yes, over 40 years!) it turns out there was a time Winfrey thought her close relationship with King could be in jeopardy — and the two are revealing all about that rough time.
Winfrey and King's friendship for the ages began all the way back in 1976. The two worked at the same news station in Baltimore, and Winfrey invited King to stay the night with her amid a snowstorm that prevented the latter from being able to get home.
"We didn't really know each other but she was just that kind of girl even then," King recalled to "O, The Oprah Magazine" during a joint interview back in 2006. "When I said didn't have any clothes with me, she said, 'You can wear mine,' and when I said I didn't have any underwear she said, 'You can borrow mine, it's clean!'"
"We became friends that first night because for the first time, I met somebody who I felt was like me. I'd never met anybody like that," she continued.
The two have been pretty much inseparable since, staying firmly by one another's sides and supporting each other through all their ups and downs. Well, almost all...
Oprah Winfrey thought her friendship with Gayle King would 'wane' when King became a wife and a mom
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King got very candid in a July interview with Oprah Daily, where the former recalled being worried they may not stay close when King got married and had children.
Winfrey confessed she thought their friendship would "wane" with all the changes in her bestie's life, with King recalling how the legendary talk show host came to her home after she welcomed daughter, Kirby Bumpus, in 1986 with an, erm, interesting gift. Winfrey turned up with a shirt emblazoned with the slogan, "Husbands come and go. Friends last forever."
Winfrey didn't recall the passive-aggressive moment, but admitted, "I was suspicious. So, you need friends who are happy in their own lives so that they can actually be authentically happy for you."
In this case, King's husband did go. She and William Bumpus divorced in 1993, six years after welcoming their second child, William Bumpus Jr., together. Winfrey, of course, never married her long-time partner, Stedman Graham, who she's been with since 1986. Stedman proposed in 1992, but they called off their wedding (via People).
It seems Winfrey and King two are still very happy together, even if they're doing nothing at all. "We're never bored with each other. We have a great time. People always say, 'What do you guys do?' Nothing! This is kind of it. Nothing," King said.
Sounds like these besties are in it for life!