Oprah Winfrey shares health update after hospital drama

TV superstar Oprah Winfrey has responded after her best friend Gayle King revealed she was treated for a worrying health issue. Watch video

TV superstar Oprah Winfrey has shared a health update after her best friend Gayle King let it slip that she had been in hospital with stomach issues.

King’s comments sparked concern for the 70-year-old talk show legend, who months ago revealed that she was taking weight loss medication after decades of battling weight issues.

In a Zoom call shared on King’s Instagram, Winfrey downplayed the hospital visit, saying she merely went to the emergency room as she was dehydrated due to a case of gastroenteritis.

Oprah Winfrey has lost an estimated 20 kilograms in recent months. Picture: Getty Images

In her initial revelation on her CBS Mornings show, King had told viewers Winfrey had been in hospital due to a horrific stomach problem that left her excreting from “both ends”’.

The comments sparked concern as medications such as Ozempic can have side effects including nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

However, a smiling Winfrey said on the Zoom call the ailment was in fact a bad case of stomach flu, more commonly known as gastroenteritis.

The star has downplayed her recent health scare. Picture: Getty Images

“It was actually the emergency room... I couldn’t keep enough water down to keep hydrated and I went to the emergency room for that, and that’s just it,” Winfrey said.

Winfrey said her doctors had warned her of the importance of handwashing to prevent contamination as she revealed she was still feeling weak after her ordeal.

She said: “I’m not (100 per cent)... I will say, keep your hands washed... Doctors told me it lives on railings and door knobs for 10 hours.”

King claimed her comments about Winfrey were taken out of context, saying she had only been trying to make the point that Winfrey was unable to appear on her regular book club segment due to illness.

“The point I was trying to make, America, is that it would have to be something that would keep her from getting on a plane and coming,” King said.

“I was too weak to get on the plane,” Winfrey said.

Oprah Winfrey went to hospital with a stomach ailment. Picture: Getty Images

Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey have been friends for decades. Picture: Getty Images

King made the revelation while interviewing novelist David Wroblewski, whose new release Familiaris was selected for Oprah’s book club.

Winfrey usually introduces her book club picks herself, but she was unable to appear because of her illness, leaving the task to King.

In comments that possibly came back to haunt her, King said at the time: “I hope she’s not mad at me for sharing that detail.”

Winfrey has been candid over the years about her weight battles and opened up about using weight loss drugs.

Rumours that she was taking Ozempic, the diabetes jab that has taken Hollywood by storm, mounted last year and she eventually confessed to taking weight loss medication.

The superstar finally admitted to using weight loss medication after years of struggles. Picture: AFP

She said in a statement: “It is a very personal topic for me and for the hundreds of millions of people impacted around the globe who have for years struggled with weight and obesity.”

In an interview with People last December, Winfrey said she had been fat-shamed mercilessly over the years.

“It was public sport to make fun of me for 25 years,” she said. “I have been blamed and shamed, and I blamed and shamed myself.”

The star said at the time she had started hiking and using weight loss drugs.

I felt stronger, more fit and more alive than I’d felt in years,” she said.

“I eat my last meal at 4 o’clock, drink a gallon of water a day, and use the WeightWatchers principles of counting points.

“I had an awareness of (weight loss) medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way.”

Originally published as Oprah Winfrey shares health update after hospital drama