Oprah May be Grooming Gayle for the Takeover

Posted by Bossip Staff

Word is, Oprah may appoint her BFF Gayle King as her successor:

Oprah has an impressive track record launching new shows – she was largely responsible for making stars out of Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray – but none of the present hosts have struck Oprah as the right choice to succeed her. So the mantle fell to the 54-year-old King.Trust and loyalty are important to Oprah, and Gayle has enjoyed a 30-year friendship with the queen of the airwaves. The pair met when both worked at a Baltimore, MD TV station in the 1970s. Gayle already has a myriad of duties within the Oprah empire….

Oprah has been very generous with Gayle through the years. Just last year, the 55-year-old superstar plunked down $7.5 million to buy a stunning penthouse apartment in Manhattan that Gayle uses as she wishes. But what her pal has really been pining for is to become Oprah’s successor on daytime TV.

Disclosed a friend: “It initially bruised Gayle’s pride that Oprah didn’t serioiusly consider her before…

“She would tell Oprah that she always has her back. She said McGraw and Ray used her clout to get where they wanted to go, but they never had any real loyalty to her.”…

Oprah still waffles on whether she’ll give up doing talk for good when her contract runs out in 2011 – but it’s clear to insiders she’ll give Gayle her own day in the sun at some point.

This may not be a wise choice given that Gayle’s last attempt at talk show queendom was a complete flop. Well, we all know how close these two are. We’re sure Oprah will give her boo best friend another shot.

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