Gayle King Doesn't 'Wanna Be a Slave' to Makeup in Rare Bare Face Moment on Drew Barrymore Show

The CBS host was a part of Barrymore's "Bare Is Beautiful" episode

Drew Barrymore on The Drew Barrymore Show; Gayle King on The Drew Barrymore Show
Drew Barrymore; Gayle King. Photo:

CBS

Gayle King is owning her makeup-free look!

On Sunday, Oct. 27, The Drew Barrymore Show posted a TikTok showing the actress, 49, along with her guests — King, 69, Gillian Anderson and Valerie Bertinelli — going bare-faced for last week's "Bare Is Beautiful" episode. 

At the start of the video, Barrymore admitted to being “very makeup-less most of my life,” before joking that the camera monitor was “playing some real tricks on me today.”

“Every time I get a glimpse of myself, I notice myself adjusting my hair as if that’s gonna change it,” she continued of her appearance. 

The Charlie’s Angels star then asked her guests how they felt about being on television without makeup. 

“It’s funny ‘cause I went into Gillian’s [dressing] room, and said, ‘Are you gonna leave on your lashes?’ ‘Cause I’m trying to decide, ‘Can I leave on my lashes?’ ” King said as the X-Files actress, 56, laughed. 

According to the broadcast journalist, Anderson said she was taking “all of it off,” lashes included — helping King to follow through and do the same for the sake of the episode. 

Gayle King & Gillian Anderson Join Drew Barrymore & Valerie Bertinelli for Makeup-Free Roundtable
Gayle King.

CBS

“Listen, I don’t have hang ups about taking pictures of myself without makeup, but it is different when you’re on national TV,” King said. “It is very different when you post it on your Instagram, or you’re just walking around.”

The CBS news personality shared her experiences of being spotted in public during her free time without makeup. 

“I have experiences when I’m walking around outside and people will hear me talk and they say, ‘You kind of sound like Gayle King. Are you her?’ ” she said. “And I go, ‘Yes,’ and then they’ll say, ‘Are you in disguise?’ ”

King said after explaining she simply wasn't wearing makeup, they'd tend to compliment her — leaving her to feel as if “that’s not what they’re thinking.”

Gayle King attends the 2023 Good+Foundation benefit
Gayle King — 2023 Good+Foundation benefit.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

“Just for someone to say, ‘Are you in disguise?’ is an indication of how drastically [different] I think I look without makeup,” she continued. 

Still, other people’s interpretations haven't changed King’s mind about wanting to always look perfectly put together. 

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“But I don’t wanna be a slave to it. My mother used to say, ‘Don’t leave the house without makeup. Always have your makeup done.’ And I decided, I don’t wanna be that guy,” she said.

Speaking to PEOPLE at the Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program luncheon on Sept. 17, King opened up about the feedback she received from her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover earlier this year. 

"I've had so many women come up to me and say, that was so brave," King said. "Was it brave? I was just excited. That's what it was for me. To show you that it's 69 and feeling really fine."

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