The Unexpected Origin Of Gayle And Oprah's Friendship Finally Revealed
For nearly as long as there has been an Oprah, there has been a Gayle, the legendary talk show host and interviewer's longtime best friend. And we've just learned the true origins of the nearly five-decade-long friendship between Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King.
Honestly — we're not sure any love story could compete with these two, in terms of sheer heartwarming quality. For example, Winfrey once revealed (via the Independent) that since King's divorce in the early '90s, she and Stedman have brought her along on every one of their vacations. And in a 2006 O Magazine interview with the two of them, Winfrey explained that she follows the Spice Girls model of "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends," telling the interviewer that if Stedman hadn't liked King, then Stedman would be the one to go. "If you don't like my best friend, then you don't like me. That's not negotiable," she explained.
According to a recent interview with the two in People, the 46-year relationship began on a dark and stormy night in Baltimore when the two were barely of legal drinking age and both brand new to the broadcast journalism business. As the Spice Girls would say, "Friendship never ends."
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King bonded during a blizzard
According to their interview with People published in late April, Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King's epic friendship began when they were both working at WJZ-TV, Winfrey as a young news anchor and King as a production assistant and writer. One night, there was supposed to be a heavy snowstorm and Winfrey, worried that King wouldn't be able to get home safely, offered to let her stay at her apartment for the night.
"We ended up talking all night long," Winfrey said. "We've literally been friends ever since." Like good friends do, Winfrey lent King a dress to wear to work the next day. In an Instagram post promoting the interview, Oprah wrote, "Who knew a snowstorm 46 years ago would gift us a friendship of almost five decades?"
Well, the two 20-somethings probably didn't predict that one day they'd become two of the most powerful and influential people in television journalism and change the talk-show industry forever, either. Life can be funny that way. And fans are here for the reminiscing and their longtime bond, with Instagram comments ranging from "#bffgoals for sure" to "Friendships like these are a rarity in today's times."