Gayle King says she's open to dating younger men after denying Oprah Winfrey rumor: 'Alert and available'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Legends say ‘age is just a number when it comes to love’. And the saying is one that Gayle King firmly believes in.
The 70-year-old American TV star recently opened up to confirm something she has said in interviews before: she is interested in dating someone younger.
‘The Trainer’ actor, who has time and again been rumored to be dating her longtime best friend and cohost Oprah Winfrey, has been out of the dating pool for a while now.
King was married to William Bumpus for 11 years before getting divorced in 1993. Since then, she has only been romantically associated with Senator Cory Booker once, in 2006, but even then, nothing was confirmed.
Gayle King confirms she is looking for a younger man
King was chatting with Entertainment Tonight reporter Rachel Smith at a launch party for Hoda Kotb's new venture, Joy 101, when she was asked whether she believes in finding love for herself, to which she said she does, according to Daily Mail.
"Why, you got somebody for me?" the ‘CBS Mornings’ host asked the interviewer. The interviewer, an ET reporter, said that she could find someone for her.
“I am alert and available!” King added. When Smith asked her what she was looking for, the veteran host replied, “The same thing you want... the same thing you got!”
King was then questioned by the reporter about a rumor that she is interested in dating younger men. “Well, I've always said that,” she agreed before clarifying, “I just don't want someone young enough I could've given birth to.”
“But I'm not mad at younger. I'm not a cougar, but yeah. I just say this... You stay open to all possibilities,” she added.
Gayle King says she doesn't want someone 'too' young
Following her appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit in 2024, King discussed her desire for a younger man on the 'Tamron Hall Show'.
She made it clear that she didn't want someone who was "too" young.
"I would like it to start with a five," she remarked, referring to the age of a possible partner. "I don't wanna be a nurse or a purse. I don't want that.”
“I would like it if they had all of their teeth. That would be nice,” she continued, before adding, “Because it's not really about money, guys. It's about somebody who has their own business, their own thing.”
“They're very confident in their own skin. You know, I remember once being told by my ex, 'I'll be tired when this Gayle King s**t is over.”
“So you want somebody who celebrates you, who is excited for you, who is very comfortable in their own skin. And that is very difficult. But no pity party for me. I'm really okay,” she concluded.
Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey deny dating rumours
In July 2024, Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey joined hands to shut down longstanding rumours that they are in a relationship.
The duo talked about their decades-long friendship in an interview on Melinda French Gates’ new YouTube series, ‘Moments That Make Us,’ where Winfrey discussed why some interpret their relationship as something more than platonic.
“I think we’ve shared pretty much everything, and I would have to say, it wasn’t even a matter of navigation,” she said, according to NY Post.
“You know, for years, people used to say we were gay, and listen, we were up against that forever,” she continued. “And people still may think it.”
King then chimed in and shared how the lesbian rumors impacted her personal life.
“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. Because if we were gay, we’d tell you!” the TV personality said.
Winfrey also said that her and Gayle’s friendship works because “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.”
