01of 12
You’re Never Too Old for a Slumber Party
Winfrey and King’s storied friendshipall began one snowy Baltimore eveningwhen the future talk show host invited King to stay the night. Winfrey and King - who worked together at the same news station as an anchor and production assistant, respectively - spent all night chatting. “We didn’t really know each other,” King said of the fateful night, “but she was just that kind of girl even then. 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!’ " And the rest, as they say, is history.
02of 12Be Your BFF’s Biggest Cheerleader…Carmen Valdes/WireImageWhen Winfrey was in the midst of changing jobs early on in their friendship, everyone in her circle seemed to be against the move -except for King. “Gayle was the only one who said ‘I think you can do it!’ "
02of 12
Be Your BFF’s Biggest Cheerleader…
Carmen Valdes/WireImage
When Winfrey was in the midst of changing jobs early on in their friendship, everyone in her circle seemed to be against the move -except for King. “Gayle was the only one who said ‘I think you can do it!’ "
03of 12
…Unless You Need to Be Brutally Honest About Her Style
Gregory Pace/BEImages
04of 12You Can’t Put a Price on True FriendshipMathew Imaging/FilmMagic"When she was making $50 an hour, I was making $27. Somebody said, ‘Do you ever feel lesser?’ “King recounted as a guest on Winfrey’s talk show. “And I go, ‘No, it’s not a friendship based on money.’ I never feel like I’m competing. I never feel lesser than.”
04of 12
You Can’t Put a Price on True Friendship
Mathew Imaging/FilmMagic
“When she was making $50 an hour, I was making $27. Somebody said, ‘Do you ever feel lesser?’ “King recounted as a guest on Winfrey’s talk show. “And I go, ‘No, it’s not a friendship based on money.’ I never feel like I’m competing. I never feel lesser than.”
05of 12Your Soulmate Better Love Your BFF TooRon Galella, Ltd./WireImage"Gayle is someone I care for and she’s family … I care so much for and respect so much of who both of [them] are and I’m glad [they] are great friends,” Winfrey’s longtime love, Stedman Graham,said in an interview. “I love it. I just think it’s wonderful. I hope [they’re] friends forever.” (Searching for your own Stedman? You’ll probably want to watchOprah and Gayle’s series of relationship advice videos.)
05of 12
Your Soulmate Better Love Your BFF Too
Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage
“Gayle is someone I care for and she’s family … I care so much for and respect so much of who both of [them] are and I’m glad [they] are great friends,” Winfrey’s longtime love, Stedman Graham,said in an interview. “I love it. I just think it’s wonderful. I hope [they’re] friends forever.” (Searching for your own Stedman? You’ll probably want to watchOprah and Gayle’s series of relationship advice videos.)
06of 12It’s Normal to Squabble About the Small StuffFrazer Harrison/Getty"I’m not big on birthdays, she is,“Winfrey told her studio audienceof King. “Some of our biggest fights have been about birthdays.” (And if you know it’s a pain point, set rules ahead of time: Oprah and Gayleno longer exchange Christmas giftsbecause “we don’t really need anything.")
06of 12
It’s Normal to Squabble About the Small Stuff
Frazer Harrison/Getty
“I’m not big on birthdays, she is,“Winfrey told her studio audienceof King. “Some of our biggest fights have been about birthdays.” (And if you know it’s a pain point, set rules ahead of time: Oprah and Gayleno longer exchange Christmas giftsbecause “we don’t really need anything.")
07of 12Be Open About Your FeelingsGreg Allen/Invision for The Hollywood Reporter/APDespite being inseparable,Winfrey emotionally revealed in a 2010 interviewwith Barbara Walters that she hadn’t succeeded in telling King how much she appreciates their longstanding friendship. “She is … the mother I never had. She is … the sister everybody would want. She is the friend that everybody deserves. I don’t know a better person. I don’t know a better person,” Winfrey said, through tears. “It’s making me cry because I’m thinking about … how much … I probably have never told her that.”
07of 12
Be Open About Your Feelings
Greg Allen/Invision for The Hollywood Reporter/AP
Despite being inseparable,Winfrey emotionally revealed in a 2010 interviewwith Barbara Walters that she hadn’t succeeded in telling King how much she appreciates their longstanding friendship. “She is … the mother I never had. She is … the sister everybody would want. She is the friend that everybody deserves. I don’t know a better person. I don’t know a better person,” Winfrey said, through tears. “It’s making me cry because I’m thinking about … how much … I probably have never told her that.”
08of 12Remember: If She Knows All Your Secrets, One Might Slip!Ever wondered what Oprah does when she wants to let loose? Let Gayle reveal all: “Oprah has smoked a little marijuana too, I don’t mind saying. I’m not telling tales out of school,“she told Ellen DeGeneres. Care to elaborate, Gayle? “I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate her!”
08of 12
Remember: If She Knows All Your Secrets, One Might Slip!
Ever wondered what Oprah does when she wants to let loose? Let Gayle reveal all: “Oprah has smoked a little marijuana too, I don’t mind saying. I’m not telling tales out of school,“she told Ellen DeGeneres. Care to elaborate, Gayle? “I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate her!”
09of 12Priortize Experiences with Each OtherBrian Cassey/Rex USAYou learn a lot about a person while traveling. For Winfrey and King, the adage rang trueduring their two-day, 3,600-mile road trip together- which was all documented for Winfrey’s hit talk show. “When you’ve been on the road for a long period of time, you just get absolutely silly for no reason,” King said of their time together, over a montage of the famous friends goofing off at a store.
09of 12
Priortize Experiences with Each Other
Brian Cassey/Rex USA
You learn a lot about a person while traveling. For Winfrey and King, the adage rang trueduring their two-day, 3,600-mile road trip together- which was all documented for Winfrey’s hit talk show. “When you’ve been on the road for a long period of time, you just get absolutely silly for no reason,” King said of their time together, over a montage of the famous friends goofing off at a store.
10of 12Be There for Each Other in the Hard TimesIda Mae Astute/ABC via GettyWinfrey and King spent New Year’s Eve in 2014 at Kula Hospital in Maui after King sprained her ankle during the twosome’s Hawaiian vacation. To ensure a memorable time for the BFFs, Winfrey flew in King’s family to the resort,where they all rang in the new year together.
10of 12
Be There for Each Other in the Hard Times
Ida Mae Astute/ABC via Getty
Winfrey and King spent New Year’s Eve in 2014 at Kula Hospital in Maui after King sprained her ankle during the twosome’s Hawaiian vacation. To ensure a memorable time for the BFFs, Winfrey flew in King’s family to the resort,where they all rang in the new year together.
11of 12Find Any Excuse to Hang Out TogetherWhat’s better than a tropical vacation with your BFF? Getting paid to go on a tropical vacation with your BFF! Oprah and Gayle headed out with 2,600 of their closest friendson a three-day “Girls' Getaway” trip on Holland America’s Nieuw Statendamin January 2019, the day after Oprah turned 65.
11of 12
Find Any Excuse to Hang Out Together
What’s better than a tropical vacation with your BFF? Getting paid to go on a tropical vacation with your BFF! Oprah and Gayle headed out with 2,600 of their closest friendson a three-day “Girls' Getaway” trip on Holland America’s Nieuw Statendamin January 2019, the day after Oprah turned 65.
12of 12Show Up — LiterallyEverettIn a June 2019 interview with PEOPLE, Gayle told the story ofher first New Year’s Eve post-divorce in 1993.“My ex was going to have the kids,” said Gayle, who was the anchor at WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut, at the time. “I was talking to Oprah on the phone that morning. And I said, ‘What are you guys doing?’ And, she told me something.“Preparing to spend night alone, King was shocked when “four hours later, the doorbell rang and she andStedman [Graham]were at the door,” she says. “She had been planning to come. I didn’t know that … I just kept saying, ‘I can’t believe you guys were here.’ That was something that I’ll never, ever, ever forget.”
12of 12
Show Up — Literally
Everett
In a June 2019 interview with PEOPLE, Gayle told the story ofher first New Year’s Eve post-divorce in 1993.
“My ex was going to have the kids,” said Gayle, who was the anchor at WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut, at the time. “I was talking to Oprah on the phone that morning. And I said, ‘What are you guys doing?’ And, she told me something.”
Preparing to spend night alone, King was shocked when “four hours later, the doorbell rang and she andStedman [Graham]were at the door,” she says. “She had been planning to come. I didn’t know that … I just kept saying, ‘I can’t believe you guys were here.’ That was something that I’ll never, ever, ever forget.”
source: people.com
