Gayle King recalls the best surprise her BFF, Oprah Winfrey, ever gave her

This relationship is "like it was designed by a power and a hand greater than my own."

A sneak peak inside Oprah Winfrey and Gayle Kings 40-year, best friends forever friendship and why it has lasted this long.

Ny Magee

Jun 20, 2019

Oprah Winfrey Gayle King theGrio.com — Oprah Winfrey (R) and Gayle King during the 38th AFI Life Achievement Award. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AFI)

Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King’s near 40-year friendship has served as “bestie” goals for women across the globe. King and Winfrey met when the former was a production assistant at WJZ in Baltimore, and the queen of media worked there as anchor.

Fast forward to 2019 and Oprah Magazine describes the pair’s close-knit relationship as “legendary,” noting that “the women themselves even marvel at their story,” the publication writes.

Of course, curious onlookers have wondered for years, what kind of gifts and wonderful surprises King must have received over the years from her bestie who happens to be one of the richest women in the world.

King recently opened up about the time when she was prepared to spend the holidays alone shortly after her 1993 divorce from William Bumpus, PEOPLE reports. It was New Years Eve and her ex was going to have the kids for the night. King called her Winfrey, unaware that the call would lead to one of their most memorable moments together.

“My ex was going to have the kids,” recalls King, who was the anchor at WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut, at the time. “I was talking to Oprah on the phone that morning. And I said, ‘What are you guys doing?’ And, she told me something.”

King says “four hours later, the doorbell rang and she and Stedman [Graham] were at the door.”

“She had been planning to come. I didn’t know that,” she added.

The trio went grocery shopping and purchased all the fixings for Stedman to cook spaghetti, which is apparently his favorite dish.

“I just kept saying, ‘I can’t believe you guys were here.’ That was something that I’ll never, ever, ever forget,” Kings says.

Years later, King was quick to support her friend when Winfrey was feeling down and out after being “wounded by a betrayal.”

“I had been talking to her on the telephone. I could tell that she was very upset about something. And I literally, hung up the phone, and I said to the babysitter, ‘I’ve got to go. Is there any way you can spend the night?,” King says.

She then flew to Chicago and headed to Winfrey’s home in Laporte, Indiana.

“She showed up at my door and said, ‘I can’t stay but I just wanted to see your face,’” Winfrey recalls. “Then she got a glass of water and said, ‘I’m going to go back and get on a plane.’ I was like, ‘What?’ She goes, ‘You said you felt wounded. I never heard you use the word wounded before.’”

Winfrey has said that her friendship with the CBS This Morning anchor, “feels otherworldly to me, like it was designed by a power and a hand greater than my own.” Adding, “Whatever this friendship is, it’s been a very fun ride—and we’ve taken it together.”

As theGrio previously reported, King, who is reportedly single and lives on New York’s Upper West Side, recently secured the bag after upgrading her contract at “CBS This Morning” with an $11 million-a-year deal surpassing her previous $5 million dollar contract, Page Six reported.

It’s #NationalParkWeek so here’s a pic from a taping of @oprah show 6 yrs! Now #FindYourPark, I recommend Yosemite pic.twitter.com/MiNJYCv2lW

— Gayle King (@GayleKing) April 22, 2016