Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King are breaking their silence about those decades-long rumors that they are actually in a secret relationship with each other. Appearing on the YouTube, Moments That Make Us with Melinda French Gates, the two opened up about their friendship.
"I think we've shared pretty much everything and I would have to say, it wasn't even a matter of navigation," Winfrey 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."
Likewise, Gayle King said the two would be open if they were lesbians.
"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,'" she said. "Because if we were gay, we'd tell you!"
So why do people think they're in a relationship together? Well, according to Winfrey it's because they aren't used to seeing two women with such a good friendship. King and Winfrey have been friends for 50 years. They met while working at Baltimore news station WJZ-TV.
Winfrey explains that they're supportive of one another. "Gayle is happier, not happy, but happier for me for any kind of success or victory or challenge I get through than I am for myself," she said. "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."
Oprah Winfrey And Gale King Break Silence
Meanwhile, Winfrey and King found the rumors about their friendship to be baffling. The two never really understood why people would think they were in a relationship.
"I just assumed everybody had a really good friend," King said. "I just assumed every woman - maybe not for men - but I just assumed every woman had at least one."
They said that honesty has been a big part of their friendship since day one. "In Oprah's life, everybody is always very flattering and is always very agreeable with things that she says," King told French Gates. "And sometimes I'll just go, 'That's just not true. Your hair does not look good.'"
It's not the first time that Oprah has denied the rumors. She previously wrote about their rumored relationship.
"I understand why people think we're gay," Winfrey wrote. "There isn't a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it - how can you be this close without it being sexual?"
"How else can you explain a level of intimacy where someone always loves you, always respects you, admires you?"
