Everyone loves Gayle King — not just for her charm and wit, but for the famously close, unshakeable bond she shares with Oprah. So we were thrilled when our friends at Delish (who, incidentally, know a thing or two about tossing together a sumptuous salad) featured King on the latest episode of their SNACKS! podcast. There, King got hilariously real about all things food and drink.
While chatting with Delish editorial director Joanna Saltz, King explained everything from her surprisingly epic quest to find the perfect burger in the midst of a city-wide blackout to her girls’ nights with Oprah, leaving no delicious detail (or cheeky confession) off the table. We’ve gathered the highlights below — and they might just make you crave lemon pasta.
On searching for a burger with Oprah during a blackout
“I was visiting Oprah in Telluride, Colorado,” King tells Saltz. “The electricity went out in the whole town. We had been on a diet, and I had been thinking all day about the burger I was gonna have.” Her burger joint of choice? Fuddruckers, of course
The generator was down, and cold sandwiches were the only option — but that didn’t dash King’s hopes. “I’d been thinking about this frigging burger all day,” she says. “We went to three different places. Everything was closed.”
Finally, the two besties schlepped to the grocery store and bought the ingredients and tools for Oprah’s chef to whip up the burger at home. “We went to four or five different places and [Oprah] said, ‘Gayle, this is not normal. You do realize that, don’t you?’”
“I go, ‘Why is it not normal?… Food gives me a lot of joy.’
“I think a cheeseburger done well is a very good thing,” says King, and clarifies that she prefers hers with “cheddar and pepper jack together.” Cheese-lovers, you get the vibe.
On eating before going to space
In April 2025, King was part of an all-female crew that headed to space. And if you’ve ever wondered how astronauts handle hunger pangs, King offers some insight: “We didn’t have any food in space…you could have food before you left, but I wanted to make sure that my bladder was clear.”
“I didn’t want any problems, so I didn’t eat anything that morning. I was actually too nervous,” King continues. “But when you came back, they had a full spread for you.”
On why she hasn’t had a drink in decades
In case you didn’t know, King abstains from alcohol — and she has a pretty memorable reason for doing so.
“My drinking comes from when I was in high school, and I had gone to the Christian youth leadership conference,” she says. “I was one of the leaders, as you might imagine. Somebody got a big keg of beer…I hadn’t had beer before, and I got so drunk it made me so sick that I thought, I never want to feel that way again.”
“I haven’t had anything since then,” King tells Saltz.
“And Oprah always teases me, she says, ‘You know, they have other things besides Boone’s Farms Strawberry Hill’ because sister girl enjoys a lovely glass of wine. Although she doesn’t really drink anymore either, she used to enjoy a lovely glass of wine.” (Clearly, even famous friends enjoy some good-natured ribbing.)
On what Gayle and Oprah eat on a girls’ night in
Curious about Oprah’s at-home menu? King gives us a peek into what the media mogul serves at sleepovers: “They do a very lovely lemon pasta over there at her place. It’s like something I’ve never tasted before. [Oprah will] call me and say, ‘They just made blah blah blah,’ and she’ll show me the picture of it, and I’ll say, ‘Oh my God, please make that next time I’m there!’ And I tasted that lemon pasta, that’s our go-to.” (While we couldn’t grab Oprah’s personal lemon pasta recipe, we love this viral, citrusy, angel hair dish that should become your signature late-night dish.)
Gayle King’s room service order
King appreciates the glories of room service, but admits feeling a bit bashful about it sometimes: “This is my order: scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, bacon extra crispy, hashbrown potatoes, pancakes light and fluffy please, and just for grins, English muffin and hot chocolate.”
During one particular call, King says she got a response she didn’t expect. “So, I’m giving the order,” she continues, “and the lady goes, ‘For how many?’ and that threw me, and I went, ‘Two!”
King says, “I went, Oh, she thinks this is a lot of food. So they bring the order up, and when it comes, I go, ‘Honey, the food is here!’ Then I ran and turned on the shower and [said], ‘You can just set it up right there, that’s good,’ and I’m thinking, I don’t want them to think I’m piggly wiggly!” Turns out, even King has her “don’t judge me” moments.
On her go-to movie theater snacks
If you consider movie snacks negotiable, think again about going to the movies with King, who has a hard-line stance. “I just think it’s criminal to watch a movie without popcorn. I prefer butter popcorn, of course, with some Raisinets. So you take a little bit of buttered popcorn, a little bit of Raisinets, and that’s another party in your mouth. You’re welcome!”