Oprah Winfrey is said to be making plans to name her talk show successor sooner rather than later. Best friend Gayle has been by Oprah’s side throughout her career, more recently joining her on her Friday discussion panel and on her satellite radio program. The Oprah show will end its contract in 2011, but Oprah knows that there’s a huge demand for someone to step in and fill her place on television and she’s hoping Gayle fits the bill.

Oprah has helped launched the careers of Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray but neither have proved especially loyal to Queen O, which is why Gayle will probably get the job, according to the National Enquirer.

Oprah has an impressive track record launching new shows – she was largely responsible for making stars out of Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray – but none of the present hosts have struck Oprah as the right choice to succeed her. So the mantle fell to the 54-year-old King.

Trust and loyalty are important to Oprah, and Gayle has enjoyed a 30-year friendship with the queen of the airwaves. The pair met when both worked at a Baltimore, MD TV station in the 1970s.

Gayle already has a myriad of duties within the Oprah empire….

Oprah has been very generous with Gayle through the years. Just last year, the 55-year-old superstar plunked down $7.5 million to buy a stunning penthouse apartment in Manhattan that Gayle uses as she wishes. But what her pal has really been pining for is to become Oprah’s successor on daytime TV.

Disclosed a friend: “It initially bruised Gayle’s pride that Oprah didn’t serioiusly consider her before…

“She would tell Oprah that she always has her back. She said McGraw and Ray used her clout to get where they wanted to go, but they never had any real loyalty to her.”…

Oprah still waffles on whether she’ll give up doing talk for good when her contract runs out in 2011 – but it’s clear to insiders she’ll give Gayle her own day in the sun at some point.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 23, 2009]

The Enquirer notes that Gayle already tried to launch a talk show in 1997, which was canceled due to low ratings. Their insider says that Gayle reassures Oprah that it was “12 years ago, and she’s a whole different person today.”

You wonder why Gayle didn’t get more chances earlier on, but maybe Oprah didn’t see the potential in Gayle and was too busy looking for other talent. Gayle seems like a nice enough person but from what I can tell she isn’t as opinionated or commanding a presence as Oprah. Hardly anyone is, which is why Oprah is so successful at what she does. Maybe that’s why she favors other blowhards with larger than life personalities like Dr. Phil and Rachel Ray.

Gayle King is shown on 12/5/08. Credit: WENN.com