“My ex was going to have the kids,” recalls King, who was the anchor at WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut, at the time. So, she called longtime friendOprah Winfrey. “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.”
So how did they spend the night? “We went grocery shopping — Stedman liked to cook spaghetti. We went grocery shopping, got all the stuff to make spaghetti. He cooked. I just kept saying, ‘I can’t believe you guys were here.’ That was something that I’ll never, ever, ever forget.”
Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection/Getty
Years later, King was there for Winfrey when her friend needed her.
King hopped on a plane, flew to Chicago and headed to Winfrey’s home in Laporte, Indiana.
“She showed up at my door and said, ‘I can’t stay but I just wanted to see your face,'” Winfrey says. “Then she got a glass of water and said, ‘I’m going to go back and get on a plane.’ I was like, ‘What?’ She goes, ‘You said you felt wounded. I never heard you use the wordwoundedbefore.'”
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This is the Gayle King who Winfrey knows well.
Now, she’s elated the rest of the world is seeing her as well.
As the anchor ofCBS This Morning, King’s career has never been hotter. HerMarch interviewwith embattled singerR. Kelly, who has been charged with11 counts of sexual abuse(which he denies), showed the audience an entirely different side of the journalist. Her ability tomaintain controlwhile Kelly grew increasingly upset and erratic went viral and won her millions of fans.
With a new contract, she leads a revitalized and surgingCBS This Morningshow, teamed with Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil under the watchful eye of new executive producer Diana Miller.
Carrie Underwood on the cover of PEOPLE.Randee St. Nicholas
“I always believed that the somebody who cared as much about the news, the culture, the work, would be seen and noticed,” says Winfrey. “Excellence cannot be denied.”
She adds, “Gayle has a deep, deep curiosity and yearning to know. That’s the reason why this moment doesn’t surprise me. What surprises me is that it took them so long to figure it out, everybody else so long to see it.”
CBS This Morningairs weekdays at 7 a.m. ET on CBS.
source: people.com
