NEED TO KNOW

  • Gayle King tries to balance eating well and treating herself
  • She has used Weight Watchers several times alongside her best friend Oprah Winfrey
  • King also credits exercising five to six days a week with helping maintain her health

Gayle King isn’t one to mince words — especially when it comes to her health. 

The CBS Mornings co-host has spoken openly about her weight journey over the years, including the ups and downs of losing and gaining, and what has (and hasn’t) worked for her. One program she’s returned to multiple times is Weight Watchers — the same plan her best friend Oprah Winfrey championed for nearly a decade.

“You don’t have to deprive yourself,” King said during a February 2016 segment about the program on CBS News. “That’s what I think is the beauty. You can decide how you want to use your points … That’s what I think is the genius of the program.”

She told E! News the following month that she had lost 25 pounds and was motivated by a specific goal.

“There’s a dress I’m trying to get into that I used to wear years ago,” the news anchor said. “When I can get into that dress, I know then I can start the maintenance program, which, by the way … is just as hard.” 

Here’s everything Gayle King has said about her weight loss journey. 

She joined Weight Watchers in 2015

Gayle King attends the 2016 Dress For Success Give Confidence, Hope & Style Gala at Grand Hyatt New York on April 7, 2016 in New York City.

Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage

In February 2016, King spoke with CBS News about how she and Winfrey had joined Weight Watchers five months prior. It was her third time on the program, and she said the journey felt more challenging as she got older.

“When you go through menopause, it is hard to lose weight,” she said. “So here I am, years later, but I do think that there is something different. My mindset is different. I know that it actually works. It’s slow, baby steps, but it definitely works.” 

Though she told TMZ in May 2024 that she was no longer using the program, she did say that she had been utilizing Weight Watchers her “whole life.” She was adamant about not endorsing a specific weight loss technique, however, and noted that “everybody has to figure out what works for them.” 

She blamed quarantine for gaining weight in 2020

Gayle King attends Marvel Studio’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” New York Screening at AMC 34th Street on November 01, 2022 in New York City.

Arturo Holmes/Getty

In October 2020, King shared a photo of her bathroom scale on Instagram and called the 172-pound read a “CRISIS.” She wrote in the caption that her doctor said her “ideal weight” was 163 pounds — but that was “not happening anytime soon.”

“blaming corona quarantine & Halloween candy corns I just bought,” King added. “Make it stop!”

However, just a week and a half later, the TV journalist shared that she had lost 7 pounds by completing a five-day soup fast. She captioned a side-by-side photo of her scale, “Trying to get into mustard yellow dress for Elex night coverage TONITE…praying to sweet black baby Jesus it now fits, that you VOTE and that there is PEACE.”

She ate a burger before her Sports Illustrated photoshoot in 2024

Gayle King attends the 2024 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Launch Party at Hard Rock Hotel on May 16, 2024 in New York City.

Taylor Hill/WireImage

King made her debut on the cover of the 2024 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue at the age of 69. To prepare, the CBS Mornings co-host didn’t go on a crazy diet or follow a rigorous workout regimen. Instead, she enjoyed her favorite meal. 

“I said to [Sports Illustrated editor-in-chief MJ Day], ‘God, now I’m going to have to start starving myself,’ and she said, ‘Absolutely do not do that. We don’t want you to change anything that you’re doing,’ ” the journalist told PEOPLE in May 2024, adding that she had a cheeseburger before her photoshoot.

She said, “It’s one of my favorite things … [MJ] said, ‘Gayle, go for it. Do what you normally do.’ And that’s what I did.”

She does an hour of exercise at least five days a week

Gayle King attends the 2025 TIME100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2025 in New York City.

Kevin Mazur/Getty for TIME

In an August 2004 interview with O, The Oprah Magazine, King gave fans insight into her almost daily workout routine. She said that she exercises for at least an hour, five to six days a week, combining 30 minutes of cardio with 30 minutes of strength training.

She said that adding resistance bands or free weight workouts to her routine has been a game-changer for weight loss. “Before I was doing cardio, cardio, cardio,” King told the magazine. “And I wasn’t losing weight the way I’m losing now.”

She told TMZ in 2024 that she still used a combination of treadmill and strength training workouts. 

She says she doesn’t deny herself anything 

Gayle King speaks on stage during the 2024 Massachusetts Conference for Women on December 12, 2024 in Boston.

Marla Aufmuth/Getty for Massachusetts Conference for Women

King told O, The Oprah Magazine that she had previously dropped 20 pounds in three months by working with a trainer, who taught her how to prioritize her health without feeling deprived.   

“I deny myself nothing,” she said. “Some people don’t eat pasta or bread or sweets ever. I love those foods too much. So for the most part, I eat healthy, but if I go to a party or on vacation, I’m going to enjoy it; then I work extra hard to get back to where I was.”