United Kingdom, May 28 -- Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King's lesbian romance rumours "used to really bother" the latter.

CBS Mornings anchor Gayle, 71, has shut down the hearsay, which was sparked following her divorce from ex-attorney William Bumpus in 1993, and reminded rumourmongers that she and the media mogul's relationship is platonic, and if they were gay and in love, the pair would say so.

On the latest episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, host Alex Cooper, 31, asked the broadcaster: "Tell me how that feels when you guys have had to handle those headlines, handle those rumours, handle that speculation."

Gayle admitted: "It used to really bother me.

"I was recently divorced, and The National Enquirer did a story about, that's the...