Oprah denies lesbian rumors

Oprah Winfrey says she's not a lesbian, not even a little bit.

Her long personal and professional connection with Gayle King has sparked rumors that they are gay, but Winfrey denies it in an interview airing Thursday night with ABC's Barbara Walters, The Associated Press reports.

"I'm not even kind of a lesbian," Winfrey says.

Persistent gossip to the contrary annoys her, she says, explaining that, if it were true, "Why would you want to hide it? That is not the way I run my life."

Winfrey calls King "the mother I never had, the sister everybody would want. She is the friend that everybody deserves." Winfrey's eyes moisten and her voice chokes as she adds, "I don't know a better person."

Winfrey will end her daytime talk show next spring and, on Jan. 1, is launching a cable channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network.

That new venture has given her moments of panic.

SEE PHOTOSOprah Winfrey through the years

"I would wake up in the middle of the night literally like clutching my chest, like, 'What have I done?' " she tells Walters.

Meanwhile, Winfrey joined 300 eager audience members yesterday in Australia, where they were flown in for an action-packed, Down Under adventure that included surfing lessons and a journey to the remote and dusty Outback.

Winfrey touched down in Great Barrier Reef holiday spot Hamilton Island in her private jet before personally driving a golf buggy to a wildlife sanctuary, where she was mobbed by hundreds of cheering Australians on the first stop of her tour, AFP reports.

"I have been here one hour and I've seen two koalas mating already," Winfrey joked to the Ten Network of the amorous pair, AFP reports.