Q & A with GEORGE WAYNE

Over the past 25 years, Gayle King has conquered almost every facet of the media. As the new face of CBS This Morning, she isn't showing any sign of slowing down.

GOOD TO BE THE KING

Gayle King On Oprah, Spanx, and waking up so damn early

"Oprah and I have been friends since I was 21."

" At 57, Gayle King is having her moment of a lifetime and is completely enthralled with it all.

With see-through walls in the greenroom, the swanky new home of her CBS morning show has feng shui that's just fabulous."

GEORGE WAYNE:Your celebrity heat index is through the roof, Gayle King. I will tell you, too, I used to watch Morning Joe, and now I watch CBS This Morning. You are trending worldwide, darling. How does it feel?

GAYLE KING: So far so good. We have a long way to go—I'm very aware of that. CBS hasn't been No. 1 since Captain Kangaroo, and old habits are very hard to break. But I also know that there is always room for something good. G.W.How did you first meet Oprah Winfrey?

Who? [Hysterical laughter.] Oprah and I have been friends since I was 21. We met at a television station in Baltimore, WJZ. She was the anchor at the station, and I was hired as a production assistant/writer. You normally don't see the anchor hanging out with the production assistant, but it so speaks to who she is.

G.W.You and Oprah seemed to get a kick last year out of the rumor flurry that you were lesbian lovers.

G. K. Well, it used to be upsetting to me when it first happened years ago. But now, to me, it's so stupid. It doesn't bother me in the least. The thing that troubles me more than anything is that, if we were, why would we keep it a secret? Hiding it would not be her philosophy or my philosophy. That's why it's just so stupid to me.

G.W. You are also very good friends with Tyler Perry. I read somewhere that he gave you a brand-new white Bentley for Christmas.

G.K. It was actually in the summertime. He called to take me and Oprah to lunch, and Tyler pulled up in this gorgeous Bentley. Oprah liked it, so he sent her the same exact car. I called Tyler and told him how amazing that was because nobody ever does anything like that for her, on such a grand scale. And, so, the next day when I got home, there was a Bentley in my driveway!

G.W.You are said to rise at 4:30 A.M. every day and be camera-ready by 6:30 A.M. At what time do you usually fall into bed? We all know you are also quite the social butterfly.

G.K. I am a night person. I don't know how I manage it all. After I leave here, I go to the magazine [0], and it's a very long day. By Thursday I'm a mess; I just try to make it to Friday. But I can't complain. G.W.I wore some Spanx to a black-tie dinner the other night hosted by the government of Kazakhstan, and I could barely breathe. You love your Spanx, I hear—how can you breathe in those things?

G.K. I love my Spanx. I sometimes wear two pairs. My Spanx hides a multitude of sins. If you get a Spanx that fits you, maybe you can breathe. Yours was probably too small, George.

G.W.Gayle, thank you and keep on doing it all.