Oprah Winfrey 'still not feeling 100' following hospitalization due to severe stomach bug issues - five months after weight loss drug reveal

Oprah Winfrey is still recovering after coming down with a stomach virus that sent her to the emergency room.

On Tuesday, the talk show legend's best friend Gayle King revealed her pal had ended up in the hospital after stomach problems left her excreting from 'both ends.'

But Oprah, 70, - who has admitted to using weight loss drugs - was able to provide an update herself when she did a video call with Gayle, 69, later that same day.

Oprah said she was still not fully recovered but was on the mend as she revealed dehydration had ultimately sent her to the ER.

'I'm not 100, I'm on my way to a 100,' Oprah said.

Gayle also clarified she never said her friend had been hospitalized: 'I never said you were hospitalized, I did say that you had a stomach something, was coming out of both sides, which it was.'

'I was in the emergency room, I was so dehydrated,' Oprah responded. 'I had a dry mouth and I couldn't keep enough water down to get hydrated, so I went to the emergency room for that, and that's just it.'

'You're still a little weakish it seems,' Gayle observed.

Oprah also disclosed, 'Five people in my household had the same thing. I would say keep your hands washed because I hear it's being transmitted through... the doctor told me that [the virus] lives on the doorknobs and railings for like, ten hours.

'So if you come across somebody who's been in the house and they've gone down the stairs, then you went down the stairs and you didn't wash your hands you end up with it.'

'The only point I was trying to make is to show how badly you wanted to be there to promote the book 'cause you never miss those,' Gayle expressed about why she disclosed Oprah's business on the morning show.

'The point I was trying to make, America, is that it had to be something that would keep her from getting on a plane and coming. That's the only point I was trying to make,' she doubled down.

Gayle said to her best friend of decades, 'I didn't really think that it was a big deal or that it would be something that would be upsetting to you, otherwise I never would have said it.'

Oprah agreed, 'Yeah, I know you wouldn't have done that.'

She later joked, 'Everyone that I've ever known and has access to my email has called me to say, "Are you alright?" Thanks!'

Gayle first revealed her friend's stomach issues on CBS Mornings on Tuesday.

'She had some kind of stomach thing where - stomach flu where stuff was coming out of both ends. I won't get too graphic,' said Gayle.

'But needless to say, she ended up in the hospital, dehydration, she had an IV, so it was a very serious thing,' the news anchor continued.

When she was asked about the current state of Oprah's health, Gayle said: 'She will be okay. She will be okay.'

Gayle was in the process of interviewing novelist David Wroblewski, whose new release Familiaris was selected for Oprah's book club. 

Oprah generally introduces her book club picks herself, but she was unable to appear on the air Tuesday because of her illness, leaving the task to Gayle. 

After vividly explaining the reason behind Oprah's absence, Gayle said: 'I hope she’s not mad at me for sharing that detail.' 

It comes fives months after Winfrey admitted to having used weight loss drugs, similar to Ozempic.

Oprah, whose size has famously fluctuated over the years, recently hit the headlines for her special about people who use weight loss drugs.

'It is a very personal topic for me,' said Oprah in a press statement quoted by BET: 'and for the hundreds of millions of people impacted around the globe who have for years struggled with weight and obesity.'

Over her decades of superstardom, Oprah has been candid with her fans about the various steps she has taken to shed pounds.

Last year she was dogged by rumors she was on Ozempic, the diabetes medicine that has become a Hollywood fad among those attempting to slim down.

As the speculation mounted, Oprah confessed in December that she had relented and started taking weight loss medication - after previously feeling that she had to rely on her own 'willpower' to achieve the figure she wanted.

Her size 'occupied five decades of space in my brain, yo-yoing and feeling like why can’t I just conquer this thing, believing willpower was my failing,' she told People.

When she underwent knee surgery in 2021, her physical rehabilitation helped her develop a number of healthy habits that helped her burn fat.

'After knee surgery, I started hiking and setting new distance goals each week. I could eventually hike three to five miles every day and a 10-mile straight-up hike on weekends. I felt stronger, more fit and more alive than I’d felt in years,' she gushed.

'I eat my last meal at 4 o’clock, drink a gallon of water a day, and use the Weight Watchers principles of counting points,' added the television icon, who at that point was still on the board of directors of Weight Watchers.

As for the drugs, she said: 'I had an awareness of medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way.'