American television personality, author and broadcast journalist for CBS News, co-hosting its flagship morning program, CBS This Morning, a position she has held since its debut in 2012. She is also an editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine, former talk show host and some-time actress. King is a well-regarded best friend of media tycoon Oprah Winfrey since 1976. Winfrey frequently recounted “Gayle” anecdotes to her huge TV audiences ever since their mutual humble beginnings at a Baltimore, Maryland television station.
King began her media career in 1975 as a college student, hired as a reporter and weekend anchor at WTOP-TV in Washington, DC. In 1976, she met Winfrey (then a news anchor) when she worked at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, as a production assistant. At WDAF-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, she was a reporter and weekend anchor from 1978-1981. Then in 1982, she became a news anchor for WFSB Eyewitness News out of Hartford, Connecticut, staying there 18 years. In 1991, she briefly co-hosted an NBC daytime talk show with Robin Wagner called Cover to Cover until it was cancelled. In 1997, she was offered her own syndicated talk show for Eyemark Entertainment, The Gayle King Show which was cancelled after a year due to low ratings. In 1999, she became the editor for O and worked as a correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning America. In September 2006, King began to co-host Oprah and Friends on XM Satellite Radio.
Raised in Bethesda, Maryland, she is the eldest of four daughters born to Scott, an electrical engineer and Peggy King, a homemaker. She enjoyed a very comfortable middle-class upbringing and got to travel around the world until the family finally settled in Maryland. Gayle graduated from the University of Maryland in 1976. Though her degree was in psychology, she decided to pursue a media career. She began dating a local police officer named William Bumpers who was pursuing a law degree at Yale University. They married in 1982 and divorced in 1993 due to his infidelity. In the late 1980s, they had a daughter, Kirby, and a son, William, who attended college. Thanks to godmother Winfrey’s generosity, King was able to hire a nanny, raise her children and pursue a career at the same time. She and Winfrey call each other, shop, dine and travel everywhere frequently together, primarily at Winfrey’s expense.
When asked about why she never remarried, King’s implied that part of the reason is that men are intimidated by her and her celebrated soul-mate friend, Winfrey. This response started speculation in the media and in hair salons that she and Winfrey may have a lesbian relationship considering the fact that they seem to be inseparable. This gossip was further fueled by King’s statement in O Magazine, in 2006, that if Winfrey were a man, she would date her! Both of them have publicly denied such a relationship, stating that if they were lesbians, they would be the first to admit it. They both believe there is nothing wrong with being gay.
Gayle King admits to having size 10 feet and jokes about it frequently. She describes herself as a “news junkie”, “technically challenged” and “not very organized” when it comes to her job, relying a lot on specialized staff. Her personal interests include searching out healthy gourmet food restaurants, shopping, music and world travel. She has visited South Africa numerous times with Winfrey, who has had a $40 million dollar school for disadvantaged children constructed in Johannesburg.
Link to Wikipedia biography