Gayle King Says She Would “Pause” If Oprah Winfrey Didn’t Like Someone She Was Dating: “She’s Very Blunt”

There are three people in this world whose opinions matter most to Gayle King: her daughter, her son, and, of course, her best friend Oprah Winfrey.

King, along with the rest of her CBS Mornings family, stopped by this morning’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, where they assisted host Drew Barrymore and co-host Ross Mathews in delivering the headlines in the Drew’s News segment.

According to a new Dating.com survey, people are no longer seeking approval from friends and family when it comes to their significant others. Barrymore read that 71% of people surveyed said friends have little to no impact on who they date, 54% said disapproval in partners is a result of jealousy and 92% said they only seek approval from their mothers.

For King, there were only a few important people in her life who she would need approval from.

“I think when you’re younger, your friends’ approval really matters,” she began. “I think when you get older, you feel you know better, you know yourself.”

King continued, “But it would bother me, even today at my age, if Oprah didn’t like, or favorite daughter Kirby, or favorite [son] Will, didn’t like [someone that I’m dating]. That would actually give me pause. After that, it doesn’t matter.”

Barrymore asked King if Winfrey tells her how it is, to which the veteran journalist replied, “Yeah. Oh, God. She’s very blunt, as you know. She’s very blunt.”

However, King said she wouldn’t voice her opinions to just anyone.

“I think — and it depends on the nature of the friendship too — if I didn’t approve of somebody and we were close, I would say that,” she explained. “If we weren’t that close and I could tell they were happy, I would say nothing. But I think it depends on the nature of the friendship.”

I think it’s safe to say that everyone needs an Oprah Winfrey to their Gayle King!

The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.