More than 30 years after he and Gayle King divorced, William Bumpus is apologizing for cheating on the CBS morning show legend.
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While speaking to TMZ recently, Bumpus directly apologized to King. “My deepest apologies to Gayle, to our daughter Kirby and her husband, Virgil, to our son William and his wife, Elise, and to our three grandchildren, for the pain I caused decades ago. Those actions were mine. I have long owned them — including publicly in my own words in 2016, which still stand.”
Bumpus further stated that his famous ex had “every right” to share details about the “painful chapter” of their marriage. He then noted that he respected her right to tell the story.
“What I will say is this: I remain endlessly grateful to Gayle. She gave me two of the greatest gifts of my life — our daughter Kirby and our son William,” he continued. “It was Gayle who encouraged and supported me through getting my Yale Law degree. And it was Gayle who chose, with me, to co-parent successfully from the very beginning — a testament to our shared commitment to our children above all else, and now our grandchildren. The love and camaraderie we forged in that work have carried us all these years.”
Despite how their marriage ended, Bumpus said he and King are still in a good place. She even recently sent warm wishes to his teenage daughter, Poet, on her 16th birthday.
” As a private person by nature, I will admit that during our marriage, I did not fully appreciate Gayle’s public life,” he said. “I wanted ours to be more private, and that was something I wrestled with, and no reflection on her true talent and abilities. I am proud to have had a front-row seat to Gayle’s remarkable success, and I remain a genuine admirer and fan.”
King Detailed Her Ex-Husband’s Infidelity During Her Appearance on Call Her Daddy
During her recent appearance on Call Her Daddy, King opened up about discovering Bumpus was cheating on her with one of her friends.
The longtime CBS morning show host said she was supposed to be traveling, but her flight was canceled. She decided to go home to be with her children, but discovered that her house’s alarm was set, with her husband inside.
“He comes flying out of the room,” she said. “He’s got a towel on, and he goes, ‘You can’t come in.'”
After she questioned him, Gayle’s ex declared, “Someone’s here.”
King further shared, “I get down, and there she is, cowering behind the door in my towel. It was a nice bath sheet.”
The woman was none other than a now-former friend of King. “I said, ‘I can’t believe that you are here and you are doing this,'” she continued. “I even said, ‘I thought we were friends.’ I sounded so pitiful.”
To make the situation worse, the house’s alarm triggered law enforcement. Officers arrived at the scene amid the situation.
“The police came, and they said, ‘Hey, oh my God, it’s Gayle King!” she stated. “I wanted to say, ‘Could you take out the trash?’ But I didn’t.”
Reflecting on the situation, King said she was desperate to find out what was happening. “Because I was thinking, ‘The kids are here. I don’t want anybody to know.’ That was my main thought — I don’t want anybody to know… I kept thinking, I don’t want it to be a scene because they’re little. They know this person.”
The couple, who married in 1982, called it quits shortly after. Their divorce was finalized in 1993. King and Bumpus share two children, Kirby and Bumpus Jr.