‘Lesbian’ relationship rumours are once again swirling about Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King after the TV presenter was spotted with tears in her eyes when her friend was launched into space.

Gayle King went was one of Blue Origin’s first all-female crew, and blasted off alongside pop star Katy Perry, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn and journalist Lauren Sánchez, the fiancée of Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos.

The six women travelled more than 60 miles above the Earth – passing the Kármán line which is considered the boundary to space – during the 11-minute flight.

King, who is believed to be afraid of flying, said after the capsule landed safely that she was glad she did it and had no regrets.

“I’m stepping away from my comfort zone. I may now get my ears pierced,” King joked, according to ABC News.

Oprah Winfrey appears to have tears in her eyes as her longtime friend journalist Gayle King is launched into space aboard a Blue Origin rocket. https://t.co/KXvijV8Dea pic.twitter.com/p07mNMJbGE

— ABC News (@ABC) April 14, 2025

Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King’s long-lasting friendship has led to repeated gossip that the pair are actually dating, and that old rumour mill started churning again after ABC shared a video clip on X/Twitter of Winfrey watching on as the rocket lifted off, wiping tears away and looking emotional.

Social media users were quick to claim the reaction was because Oprah Winfrey is Gayle King’s secret lesbian lover, something the pair have always denied.

What have Oprah and Gayle said about the lesbian rumours?

Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey have been friends since 1976 after meeting early on in their careers as reporters. They have continued to refute claims that they have ever been anything other than platonic besties.

In 2013, Winfrey was asked by gay host Andy Cohen if she had ever “taken a dip in the lady pond” – a question he admitted, more than a decade later, he regretted asking.

The pals addressed the issue again last year on Melinda French Gates’ Moments That Make Us interview series.

King said she and Winfrey had “shared pretty much everything”, adding: “For years, people used to say we were gay. We were up against that for ever, and people still may think it.”

Joking that the rumour made it “hard [to] get a date on Saturday night”, she went on say: “If we were gay, we’d tell you.”

And Winfrey said: “The reason our friendship has worked is 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.

“And I feel as happy as she does, I can’t be happier than, cannot surpass Gayle. You cannot out-happy her. I am equally as happy for her.”

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