Oprah and Gayle take ‘joy ride’ 15 years after famous road trip

Television icons Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King are on the road again, 15 years after their cross-country trek was broadcast as part of the 21st season of Winfrey’s eponymous daytime show. 

The two best friends left Santa Barbara, California in the summer of 2006 in a Chevy Impala to drive across America’s states and end up in New York City 10 days later — just in time for the Tony Awards. The recorded trip was an absolute fan-favorite, with dozens of hilarious moments as the friends traversed the nation. 

Now they are headed on a short road trip through Santa Barbara, where Winfrey lives, for something called “The OG Chronicles: Joy Ride.” The three-part event will air on OprahDaily.com. 

In the trailer that was posted Thursday, King says, “After the year we’ve had, we thought a drive around the neighborhood with a friend seems joyful. A joy ride through Santa Barbara surprising some of our favorite people.” 

The pair will be dropping in on some “Oprah Insiders” — subscribers to Oprah Daily. The $50 annual subscription provides “insider-only” exclusive content, unlimited access to a 10-year, searchable digital archive of past issues of O, The Oprah Magazine, as well as a weekly newsletter that includes special deals and discounts. 

The subscription also comes with one year of O Quarterly, which is the new premium print edition formerly known as O, which ceased publication last year. 

Members also get invitations to private Winfrey and King video live streams — like the joy ride itself. 

King recently told Entertainment Tonight she and Winfrey often travel together, usually with Winfrey’s partner Stedman Graham. 

“I’m a proud third wheeler,” the CBS This Morning co-host admitted. “I make no apologies for that. I got divorced back in 1994, and I’ve been their third wheel ever since. The good news is that Stedman is always very welcoming, so it never occurs to me when she says, ‘We’re going to so and so,’ I’m like, ‘When?’ It doesn’t occur to me that I’m not invited. But throughout the years, we’ve gone on some great trips together. And that’s not gonna change.”

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