September 9, 2021
Gayle King Hosts Dream Baby Shower For Daughter At Laguna Beach
Gayle King helped her daughter Kirby Bumpus score the baby shower of her dreams after her wedding plans were crushed during the pandemic.
King, the 66-year-old anchor for CBS This Morning, organized the event to celebrate her daughter’s first baby, a son, in late July. The gathering consisted of 16 close family and friends who were vaccinated and received a negative COVID test prior to attending, People reported.
The three-day trip took place at Montage Laguna Beach resort in California and was organized with the help of Details Details owner Jeannie Young Savage.
“It turned into something that was bigger than a baby shower. Kirby was at the core of the celebration—no doubt about that—but it became a celebration of friendship, a celebration of women, and a celebration of coming together after things have been so hard for so many people,” King told Oprah Daily. “To be honest with you, I didn’t know it was going to be that. I knew it would be pretty and nice, but I think it grew into something much more significant than that.
“It was the first moment to celebrate a lot of things that happened in the last two years—and Mom definitely went all out and outdid herself,” Bumpus said. “The thing I keep saying is that I can’t even call this the shower of my dreams because I didn’t even dream something like that for myself.”
Bumpus was gifted a library’s worth of children’s books, a handmade quilt from her Aunt Sharon, and from Oprah Winfrey, a BabyZen YOYO² stroller.
King said she wanted to give her daughter an elaborate celebration because she didn’t get the wedding she expected due to the pandemic.
“When Kirby got married in December, she didn’t have the wedding that she’d planned,” she said. “We were still in the process of figuring out exactly what that would be, but we knew, whatever it was, it’d be more than six people. That turned out to be perfect, but she didn’t have a bridal shower or any of those events, so I really wanted her baby shower to be more than just a Zoom thing.”
“Not to mention that part of the fun of being pregnant is seeing your friends react to your baby bump, watching them ooh and aah and letting them touch it,” King added.
Bumpus told Oprah Daily she and her husband are excited to be having a boy.
“I’m very excited about a boy. For starters, I think my husband Virgil would be a great dad to a boy or girl, so I just can’t wait to see him become a dad,” she said. “And selfishly, I’m grateful that I don’t have to figure out how to do a little girl’s hair just yet, because I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”
For grandmother King, she’s also pumped to see her daughter step into motherhood.
“To see your own baby have a baby—it still blows my mind that this is actually happening.”