ET spoke with Oprah's friend and the magazine's editor-at-large about the publication's two decades of success.
It's been 20 years since O, The Oprah Magazine debuted, and Gayle King is looking back at the long and exciting journey of Oprah Winfrey's successful publication.
Speaking with ET's Nischelle Turner, King opened up about the milestone anniversary of her best friend's magazine, and dished on Winfrey's decision to postpone the celebration in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
According to King, she and Winfrey talked and the media mogul told her she's "not really comfortable coming to New York for the rest of this year," and the magazine is headquartered in the Big Apple.
"She had pneumonia, as you know in January, and she still has a bit of a bronchial thing that she's concerned about," King shared, "So I said, 'How can we have a party, an anniversary party, without the O of O?' And she said, 'You don't!'"
So, the party has been postponed and Winfrey remains self-quarantined in her home in Santa Barbara, California, and King, who is self-isolating in New York, admitted, "I have no idea when we'll be able to see each other again."
Despite them putting the kibosh on the festivities, there's still a lot to celebrate from O magazine's two-decade history, and lots of fun facts about the publication itself. For example, over the last 20 years there have been 239 issues, and Winfrey has appeared solo on 234 of them.
The exclusive group of celebs who have appeared with Winfrey on the cover include Ellen DeGeneres, Michelle Obama, Winfrey's A Wrinkle In Time co-stars Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling and King herself, just recently.
"Since year 15, we've really been trying very hard to come up with something else, and there's nothing else that really compares to her," shared King, who serves the magazine's editor-at-large. "The truth of the matter is, whenever Oprah is on the cover of another magazine it sells very well. So why would we wanna give that up?!"
One of the magazine's most popular issues is the annual "Oprah's Favorite Things" list, which means taste-testing a whole lot of treats to decide on what she and the O team feel are the best gift ideas for the year. And, according to King, it's kind of a big production.
"That takes us four or five hours to pick all the items that go on that list," she shared. "It covers a whole room where she goes through, tastes everything…. And on those days in particular I try to fast two days ahead of time, to give myself some eating room!"
Check out the video below for more on the bond between Winfrey and King and their enduring friendship of over 40 years.
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