Oprah Winfrey: 'I am not a lesbian'

Oprah Winfrey has dismissed suggestions that she may be in a lesbian relationship with her long-term friend Gayle King.

The chatshow presenter filmed an interview with Barbara Walters for the ABC special Oprah: The Next Chapter, and said that rumours that King is anything other than a close friend are frustrating.

Winfrey explained: "I'm not lesbian... I'm not even kind of lesbian. And the reason it irritates me is because it means that somebody must think I'm lying.

"That's number one. Number two... why would you want to hide it [if it was true]? That's not the way I run my life."

The entrepreneur also revealed that King's friendship has been a significant part of her life and development.

"She is the mother I never had, she is the sister everybody would want. She is the friend that everybody deserves," Winfrey emotionally told Walters.

"I don't know a better person," she added.