Meet Gayle King, the 69-year-old Sports Illustrated cover star: the CBS host has interviewed Barack Obama and Elon Musk – and those rumours about her and Oprah Winfrey being lovers just won’t die

May 18 , 2024

Gayle King is famously besties with Oprah Winfrey – and just did Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition cover. Photos: @gayleking/Instagram

Move over Martha Stewart! Gayle King is the latest senior citizen to grace the cover of the famous Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. And how did she prep for the big-deal shoot? By eating a burger, according to The New York Times.

The 69-year-old CBS Mornings co-anchor joins models Kate Upton, Hunter McGrady and Chrissy Teigen for four separate covers of the magazine, which hit news-stands on May 17.

More than 20 other models, including Stewart, Tyra Banks, Winnie Harlow, Christie Brinkley and the magazine’s first transgender cover model, Leyna Bloom, celebrate the edition’s 60th anniversary on a series of special “Legends” covers.

“I never in a million years thought I would be standing here in a bathing suit for Sports Illustrated, but here I am”, King told the magazine, “which says to me that sometimes people can dream, God can dream, the universe can dream a bigger dream than you can ever think for yourself.”

King, who came to prominence as the best friend and confidant of media mogul Oprah Winfrey, was caught by surprise that she made the cover.

Here’s what we know about Gayle King:

What nationality is Gayle King?

Gayle King has enjoyed a long career as a TV journalist and presenter. Photo: @gayleking/Instagram

Gayle King is American. Per her IMDB page, she was born in Chevy Chase in Maryland on December 28, 1954.

Why is Gayle King famous?

Gayle King with NBA star Charles Barkley. Photo: @gayleking/Instagram

King is an accomplished journalist and best known as a co-host on CBS Mornings. She has interviewed notable figures including former president Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan, to name a few. She’s also an editor-at-large at Oprah Daily.

How many children does Gayle King have?

Gayle King at Variety’s 2021 Power of Women event in Beverly Hills, California. Photo: EPA-EFE

Gayle shares two children with her ex-husband William Bumpus.

According to People, she had her daughter Kirby Bumpus in 1986, and welcomed their son William Bumpus Jr in 1987. Kirby now has two children of her own, Grayson and Luca, with Virgil Miller.

Is Gayle King in a relationship?

Gayle King has two grown-up children. Photo: @gayleking/Instagram

According to ET Online, King hasn’t been in any public relationships since she divorced Bumpus in 1993.

Despite jokey proposals from Usher, Gayle King has not been romantically linked with anyone since splitting from her husband in 1993. Photo: @gayleking/Instagram

“He was a great husband,” she once shared in an interview with Pivot. “He had a problem with monogamy – never good in a marriage. Infidelity, just throwing it out there, never good.”

There’s been speculation about the nature of Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King’s relationship for years, with many suggesting the two aren’t just besties, but romantically involved. The two seem to take it in their stride, however, even openly joking about “that lesbian rumour” on The Oprah Winfrey Show. But given that Winfrey has been with her partner Stedman Graham for nearly four decades, the rumour seems unlikely to be true!

How did Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King meet?

Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King first met in 1976. Photo: @oprah

According to The New York Times, the media tycoon and broadcast journalist met back in 1976 while they were working at a TV station in Baltimore. One evening there was a snowstorm so Winfrey invited King to stay with her as she couldn’t travel home, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Additional reporting by Tribune News Service

Fame and celebrity

After Martha Stewart, Gayle King becomes the latest senior citizen to grace Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’s cover, joining younger models Kate Upton and Chrissy Teigen for its 60th anniversary issue
King is best known for being the co-host of CBS Mornings, and has interviewed everyone from Barack Obama and Elon Musk to Bradley Cooper in her time – but just how close is she to Oprah?