Gayle King Says She's Been Told Men Find Her Style and Friendship with Oprah Winfrey 'Intimidating'

Gayle King is revealing why some men find it “intimidating” to date her.

When asked on the latest episode of The Pivot Podcast if it’s hard to date, the CBS Mornings host responded, “What’s difficult is that people say, ‘Oh, you’re so intimidating.’”

“Somebody said to me once, ‘Gayle, look at your shoes ... look at your bag, look at your coat. You’re friends with Oprah [Winfrey].’ A guy looks at that and says, ‘I can’t compete with that,’” shared King, 69. “But my thing is, it’s not a matter of competing. I’m not looking for someone to compete.” 

She continued, “You want somebody who has a sense of humor, who’s very secure, who’s not intimidated by whatever all of this is, that just sees you for you.”

The broadcaster also detailed what she is looking for in man, saying, “I really am attracted to men of color. I just am.”

“I love how a Black man says 'motherf---ing baby.' Nobody says it like y’all. … It’s just the way that it’s said. I don’t even know how to explain it to you,” she explained “I love how they say, ‘Hey, baby’ … and then how they say motherf---er. It can be a term of endearment or it can be, ‘I’m really pissed.’ But there’s something about how a Black man says it. I’m attracted to that.”

While noting that she doesn’t want someone with “a potty mouth,” she says, “sometimes a well-delivered curse word is very intelligent to me.” 

She added, “What really is most attractive to me is a sense of humor, kindness, somebody you can take to the White House and the backyard barbecue, intelligence really matters to me, [and] proper grammar really matters to me.”

King also recalled how a date — which she was “very excited” about it — went wrong. 

“I went on a date. I was really excited, very excited about it,” she said. “We'd gone out maybe two months and then he said he really needed to talk to me. He wanted to have a private conversation…[he said,] ‘Do you think you could lend me $4,000?’ I'm like, oh God. You know what Oprah said, ‘God, I would have felt better if he had said $40,000.”

She shared that she ultimately gave him the money, which he repaid later that week, but she “didn’t feel the same” about him, adding, “it just changed the relationship for me.”

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King was previously married to William Bumpus. The pair — who share two adult daughter Kirby and son Will — divorced in 1993 after she caught him in bed with another woman in 1990. 

While King has said little about the split over the years, she reportedly discussed her ex with Will Smith when he appeared as a guest on her radio show in 2006.

"I was married to a cheater," King told Smith. "I went to marital counseling. I have been divorced since 1993, so I'm all healed and everything. I have worked it out. I'm not bitter. I'm OK. I'm really OK."

Following King's comments, Bumpus issued a public apology for cheating on his wife.