Gayle King told Oprah she wasn’t looking good after weight gain


Gayle King was on Good Morning yesterday to talk about her best friend Oprah’s decision to go public with her weight struggle. Oprah recently admitted to weighing 200 pounds at just 5′ 6.5″ tall, a figure that some people say is too low and contend that she looks heavier than that. Whatever the exact number is, Oprah deserves credit for owing up to her problems with the public, something she could have kept quiet about. Oprah is featured on the cover of the upcoming January issue of O Magazine in a current full body shot in which she points to a fit 2005 version of herself with the caption “How did I let this happen again?” In the accompanying interview, she admits that she’s “mad” and “embarrassed” at her weight gain and says she can’t believe she let it happen again with everything she knows.

Gayle said on GMA that she was surprised Oprah made that decision. As her best friend and the editor of O, she told Oprah frankly that she wasn’t looking that good and it would be a risk to compare herself to her 2005 cover shot.

Gayle explains how she told Oprah she wasn’t “looking so great”
“You’re aware that there’s a difference between the two bodies and you’re not looking so great, and you’re ok with showing that?”

“She goes ‘Yes I am. I really am, because I have eyes, everybody else has eyes. Everybody can see what is happening to me and I feel that I’ve been talking the talk but I haven’t really walked the walk and I just want to put it out there.'”

Gayle also talked about how she felt bad that she didn’t notice that Oprah was upset over gaining weight until she came out with the news herself. Oprah tells a personal story in the magazine about not wanting to go on stage in Las Vegas with Tina Turner and Cher because she felt too fat, something that Gayle says she can see in retrospect but didn’t pick up on at the time.

The letters are coming in from readers who are grateful to Oprah, according to Gayle. She quoted one woman who wrote “I just wanted to thank you. For so long I’ve been embarrassed about how I look. I called myself voluptuous, but really I know I’m fat.”

Oprah contends that she’s not brave for coming out with this personal information and that the really brave people are the ones who come on her show every week.

Gayle said that Oprah is still the same confident person, but that Bob Green, her longterm trainer, told her he could tell that she’s been depressed since she gained weight.

As I said in our earlier coverage of this, Oprah usually bugs me but I can’t fault her in this case. She is going public with something that people struggle with daily and as a well known celebrity she can provide courage and strength to so many. Oprah’s “Best Week Life” starts on January 5th on her show.

Gayle King is shown in the header at the 17th Annual Women In Entertainment Power 100 Breakfast at the Beverly Hills Hotel on 12/5/08. Credit: Apega/WENN

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16 Responses to “Gayle King told Oprah she wasn’t looking good after weight gain”

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  1. Codzilla says:

    With friends like these …

  2. boomchakaboom says:

    As public a figure as Oprah is, how does vocalizing her weight gain equal coming clean to the public? The public has eyes.

    Methinks she just came clean with herself, not the public.

  3. geronimo says:

    The public HAS eyes and the public can clearly see that Oprah’s body, on the front of that mag, has been ‘enhanced’ to within an inch of its life. The public also has ears and I’m hearing bullshit. Call me picky but this is not what I would describe as either being honest or coming clean.

  4. Christianne says:

    It is great to have friends like these.
    True friends always tell you the truth no matter how hard it is.

  5. CB Rawks says:

    I’m quite the yo-yo slimmer myself, and I know how much it sucks when the weight creeps up again.
    Ah screw it. Christmas cookies!

  6. boomchakaboom says:

    “Call me picky but this is not what I would describe as either being honest or coming clean.”

    Exactly, Geronimo. If Oprah thinks nobody noticed she’s gained weight simply because she didn’t SAY it, the woman is delusional.

    The Emperor* has gained weight. Hoopty-do.

    * The Emperor in this comment refers to The Emperor Has No Clothes and is not meant to imply in any way that Oprah has achieved Emperor status. 🙂

  7. Leandra says:

    Oprah has everything at her disposal to maintain a healthy weight including her own chef to prepare low fat meals, a personal trainer, etc. But see none of that is worth s*** really if you just want to eat. I sympathize with her. It is not easy to keep those fat cells flattened…once you have them they never go away and always want to be filled and fattened up.

  8. Lauri says:

    I think some of you are being too hard on her. Clearly, you’ve never struggled with a serious weight problem or you would likely be a bit more understanding. It doesn’t matter how much money, fame or power she has. For some people, weight is an extremely difficult issue to deal with and all the personal trainers and chefs in the world can’t help.

    I think she is one person who should consider gastric bypass or lap band surgery. Some people are hard-wired differently, and losing weight and keeping it off can be virtually impossible without this type of intervention. It’s got nothing to do with will power. For some, it is a genuinely epic struggle, and she is clearly one of them.

  9. RReedy says:

    Call me crazy, but I just don’t GET why Oprah thinks we are all waiting with breathless anticipation to hear about another of HER problems? Give me a break. Her sense of self importance continues to amaze me. So she gained some weight..big deal. It happens. BTW: Gayle has chunked up pretty good also.

  10. Kelly says:

    THANK YOU !

    Im going to try to live my best life along with you Oprah and Gayle.

    Merry Christmas 🙂
    and a HAPPY NEW (ME) YEAR !

  11. meme says:

    oprah, i don’t give a damn about your weight problem. hire someone to smack the food out of your shovel every time you try to get some in your mouth

  12. Bunny says:

    I gained ten pounds in the last month – did the weight appear like magic? No – I gained it because I stuffed my face with ho-hos, chips, dips and all kinds of crap. When I was eating healthy, I was at a good weight, not thin, but just a little plump. And I could have been thinner if I exercised but I didn’t mind a little plumpness. People get fat because they eat and don’t exercise. 💡

  13. Feebee says:

    I think she looks fine, she just looks like Oprah… which is who she didn’t look like in 2005. She’s entitled to be upset with herself but I smell a sale coming… plus if she’s going to be honest, let’s BE honest. She’s at least 220lbs, come on now.

  14. Hmm says:

    Oprah is a human being with human failings and I’m sorry but given the trauma she has endured (being raped as a child and abandoned by her mother)I think it is understandable that she may have some issues. I also think that Oprah has done a lot for a lot of people and I give her credit for rising above and helping others. She’s not less of a person because she struggles with her weight and it is one of the reasons that many people identify with her.

  15. Abby says:

    that “2009” photo of her is sooo photoshopped, too.

  16. Diane Bradford says:

    Oprah should consider the gastric sleeve down te is ten days . I lost 200 lbs in a year and three months.