Oprah Winfrey spotted hitting the gym with Maria Shriver in Santa Barbara… after addressing THOSE lesbian rumors with best friend Gayle King

Oprah Winfrey got in a beachside sweat session with her pal Maria Shriver in Santa Barbara on Saturday.

The Color Purple star, 70, wore a gray Beatles T-shirt and black leggings with a green ball cap.

A rack of weights was visible behind former talk show host as she looked down at her phone.

The former First Lady of California, 68, was dressed similarly in a gray tank top and black leggings with the beach pictured behind her as she looked down at her phone while carrying a Stanley tumbler under her arm.

Maria was seen driving them away in her green range rover after they finished up their workout.

Oprah Winfrey got in a beachside sweat session with her pal Maria Shriver in Santa Barbara on Saturday. The Color Purple star, 70, wore a gray Beatles t-shirt and black leggings with a green ball cap

The former First Lady of California , 68, was dressed similarly in a gray tank top and black leggings with the beach pictured behind her as she looked down at her phone while carrying a Stanley tumbler under her arm

The gym sighting comes after Oprah clarified the long standing rumors about her friendship with her best friend Gayle King, 69.

During a recent appearance on Melinda Gates’ Moments that Make Us, the media mogul reflected on her decades of friendship with King.

The two women have been dogged by rumors that they are secret lesbians for years.

‘I think we’ve shared pretty much everything and I would have to say, it wasn’t even a matter of navigation,’ the daytime TV legend said.

‘For years, people used to say we were gay, and listen, we were up against that forever. And people still may think it.’

King quipped that she use to ask Oprah to do a show clarifying they were just friends as it was ‘hard enough for’ her ‘to get a date on Saturday night without people thinking they were together.

‘If we were gay, we’d tell you!’ King assured viewers.

As for what she thinks sparks speculation that they are more than just friends, Winfrey said it’s because people ‘aren’t used to seeing women with this kind of truth bond.’

‘The reason why I think our friendship has worked is because Gayle is happier, not happy, but happier for me for any kind of success or victory or challenge I get through than I am for myself,’ the 20-time Emmy winner stated.

She continued: ‘And I feel as happy as she does — I can’t be happier than, cannot surpass Gayle. You cannot out-happy her. I am equally as happy for her.’

Maria was seen driving them away in her green range rover after they finished up their workout

The gym sighting comes after Oprah clarified the long standing rumors about her friendship with her best friend Gayle King, 69. Pictured in Sun Valley, Idaho in July 2024

‘I think we’ve shared pretty much everything and I would have to say, it wasn’t even a matter of navigation,’ the daytime TV legend said, pictured in July 2024

During a recent appearance on Melinda Gates’ Moments that Make Us, the media mogul reflected on her decades of friendship with King, seen here in March 2024

The two women have been dogged by rumors that they are secret lesbians for years, pictured here at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival

Oprah has been in a 35-year-long relationship with Stedman Graham, 73, while King was married to attorney Bill Bumpus from 1982 to 1993 and share daughter Kirby, and a son, William.

Winfrey noted that even a ‘hint of jealousy about anything’ between friends can ruin the relationship.

‘In Oprah’s life, everybody is always very flattering and is always very agreeable with things that she says,’ King explained.

‘And sometimes I’ll just go, “That’s just not true. Your hair does not look good.”‘