Oprah talks shots. Not weight loss ones, but tequila that Gayle King refuses

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — What began as a discussion about obesity ended with viewers learning something new about Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King’s friendship.

The women appeared Wednesday night on CNN’s “King Charles,” hosted by King and Charles Barkley, to talk about weight loss and weight management medication.

Barkley thanked Winfrey for her recent special, “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution,” which explored the topic in depth.

The former professional basketball player turned commentator shared that he’s dropped a significant amount of weight with the help of medication.

Winfrey likened the struggle some people have with obesity to those who have a propensity to alcoholism in terms of how bodies are predisposed to respond differently. She noted how the issue of alcoholism was discussed years ago on her popular daytime talk show.

“In that late ’80s, early 90s, we were doing a lot of shows about alcoholism and people were saying then the same thing they’re saying now, ‘just put the food down.’” Winfrey said. “They were saying ‘just put the bottle down’ because nobody understood that for some people – not everybody who drinks, over drinks becomes an alcoholic, but if you carry the marker or the gene that allows alcoholism to flourish with you, you then develop alcoholism.”

She then noted to King, “I can drink you under the table” and not become an alcoholic to which King responded, “She’s not lying.”

That’s when talk turned to a different kind of shot, unrelated to the way most prescription weight loss medication is administered.

“Tequila shots, anyone?” King joked, causing Winfrey to say, “I can out tequila almost anyone!”

Now there’s something we’d like to see!

“Oprah, I just want to say you know I already love you,” Barkley declared, “I love you more because we can go out and drink tequila anytime.”

He then revealed that whenever he goes out with King, she doesn’t drink.

Winfrey then spilled some tea – or milk – on King’s cocktails of choice.

“Listen, last big party we were at, I swear she asked for a Shirley Temple [a non-alcoholic mixed drink] and be sure to put a cherry in that,” Winfrey said. “We were at Tina Turner’s wedding and she asked for milk!”

King tried to get things back on track as Barkley cracked up, explaining that she simply enjoys a glass of milk with her cake.

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