Oprah Winfrey Clarifies Health Scare After Gayle King Suggested BFF Was Hospitalized

On Tuesday’s episode of the CBS morning show, Gayle shared that her BFF was not going to be able to appear to discuss the new pick for her book club because she was battling a stomach virus.

“She had some kind of stomach thing — stomach flu — stuff was coming out of both ends. I won’t get too graphic,” the 69-year-old anchor said. “Needless to say, she ended up in the hospital, dehydration, had to get an IV, it was a very serious thing.”

However, since Gayle said her longtime pal “ended up in the hospital,” many people interpreted her wording to mean that Oprah, 70, was hospitalized for the virus. This prompted Gayle and Oprah to later address what really happened, with the former sharing a video on Instagram that featured her chatting with her bestie on FaceTime.

“A first for @cbsmornings, announcing @oprah’s latest book club pick #Familiaris without Oprah!” Gayle captioned the video. “She was sidelined with a stomach virus that caused such dehydration that she went to the hospital to get an IV drip. I thought I made that clear but next thing I know I’m surprised to see headlines that scream ‘Oprah’s hospitalized!’ (She was NOT!) And I’m bombarded with calls asking if Oprah is okay. The answer is yes! And now let’s go straight to the source.”

As shown in the clip, Gayle — who was in her office — explained to Oprah via FaceTime, “I never said you were hospitalized. I did say that you had a stomach something, it was coming out of both sides, which it was.”

“I was in the emergency room. I was so…” Oprah replied, to which Gayle finished her sentence, “Dehydrated.”

“I couldn’t keep enough water down to get hydrated, so I went to the emergency room for that and that’s just it,” she added.

Gayle told Oprah that she appeared to be “still a little weak-ish,” to which Oprah said that she’s not 100 percent.

The TV legend went on to share more information about her stomach bug.

“Five people in my household had the same thing,” Oprah explained. “I would say keep your hands washed because I hear it’s being transmitted through… the doctor told me that [the virus] lives on the doorknobs and railings for like, 10 hours. So if you come across somebody who’s been in the house and they’ve gone down the stairs, then you went down the stairs and you didn’t wash your hands you end up with it.”

Meanwhile, Gayle stressed that she spoke about Oprah’s condition on CBS Mornings earlier that day “to show how badly you wanted to be there to promote the book ’cause you never miss those.”

Oprah noted that it was the first time she missed a new book announcement.

‘The point I was trying to make, America, is that it had to be something that would keep her from getting on a plane and coming,” Gayle added. “That’s the only point I was trying to make.”

Gayle then asked Oprah if she was “offended” that she talked about her health on-air.

“I didn’t really think that it was a big deal or that it would be something that would be upsetting to you, otherwise I never would have said it,” she said, to which Oprah replied, “No, I thought what you were trying to do is explain why I wasn’t there, and doing that in a definitive way.”

“Everybody I’ve ever known that has access to my email has called me to say, ‘Are you alright?’ Thanks!” she jokingly added.