Gayle King Said This Is The Coolest Thing She’s Ever Done
CBS This Morning’s Gayle King has interviewed some of today’s biggest names. From world leaders to pop stars, the lead anchor also moonlights as the Editor-at-Large for O, The Oprah Magazine, her bestie’s publication.
Reporting on historical events as well as keeping up with her personal life, King revealed some experiences that will stay etched in her mind.
Started in psych
Though she’s now firmly established as a top journalist, King never planned on being in front of the camera. In college, she sought out areas of study that had to do more with problem-solving and persuading than reporting.
“I majored in psychology, so I never really intended to be in television,” she told USA Today in 2018. “I’ve always liked (and still do) listening to other people’s problems and giving them unsolicited advice, and so I thought I would be good in psychology – that I’d have a practice where I would listen to problems all day long. I was going to do that or law school, because I thought I’d be great in front of a jury trying to argue my case or convince jurors to see things my way and putting away criminals – I was not going to represent guilty people.”
Taking a job in news while she was in college changed her career path. “I got an entry-level position at a TV station when I was in college, and then I became hooked,” King revealed. “You’ll talk to 10 different people and get 10 different stories of how we started in this business, but for me it was really by accident.”
‘Every day is different’
Despite not relishing the early morning hours, King loves the variety that her career brings on a daily basis. “There’s no such thing as a typical day. Every day is different,” she said. “I get up super early: The hours are crappy, but I love this job. One day I could be in Texas talking to immigrant moms. Another time I could be in Detroit. Another time I could be at the White House.”
King never had the opportunity to get bored in her job since she never knows what to expect each day. “That is what I like about this job,” she shared. “It starts early in the morning, and we go into hair and makeup and we’re on the air from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., and after that we do a post-mortem about the show and then talk about what’s coming up the next day.”
Now with two adult children, King is able to focus on her career and the demanding schedule that comes along with it. “It’s very busy, but I like it. My kids are grown,” the CBS This Morning anchor said. “I like to say ‘potty-trained and employed.’ It’s not like I have to rush home and cook dinner or tuck anybody in or read anybody a story or give anybody a bath. I’m divorced, so the only person I really have to take care of is me, myself and I, and that is a full-time job.”
Cool stuff on and off the job
The news anchor is clearly a thrill-seeker outside of work. When asked to share the coolest thing she’s ever done, King recalled an adventure on the other side of the world. “We took a vacation on an elephant-backed safari. We went to Botswana,” she recalled. “We look at those pictures and we go, ‘Whoa! We got to do that!’” Remembering some other highlights, King added, “It’s so hard to pick a coolest thing – (seeing) Nelson Mandela’s house in South Africa, that was cool.”
The journalist has also been at the forefront of some major events that were cool, to say the least. “When it comes to work, a live shot at the White House for the Super Bowl – that was very cool,” King said. “They [the Obamas] had never done an interview together, and normally the tradition is that whatever network has the Super Bowl gets an interview with the president during halftime.”
King went on to reveal that the First Couple was open to trying a different approach. “CBS this Morning producers approached the Obamas to see if they would do it together, live, something they had never done,” King shared. “That was super cool and super nerve-wracking, because you’re live and you have to stick to your time cues, and I’m told I don’t always do that (sticking to time cues) well.”
The CBS This Morning anchor is sure to have many more ‘cool’ moments to add to her list in the upcoming years!
