Gayle King's Ex-Husband Apologizes for Cheating after TV Titan Recalled Moment She Discovered Affair with Best Friend
Gayle King's former husband has apologized once again after the TV veteran opened up about his cheating.
May 28 2026, Published 8:13 a.m. ET
Gayle King's former husband has publicly apologized after the veteran TV star opened up about his cheating.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the CBS Mornings host, 71, detailed the moment she discovered William Bumpus's infidelity in a new interview and he's now responded with a statement of his own.
'I Can't Believe You Are Doing This'
King recalled her disbelief at catching her now ex-husband cheating.
Speaking on the Call My Daddy podcast, King recalled to host Alex Cooper that she “came home and caught (Bumpus)" in the act of cheating with a close friend.
King remembered telling the towel-clad woman: "'I can’t believe that you are here and that you are doing this. I can’t believe that you are doing this.' And I even said, 'I thought we were friends!' It sounded so pitiful."
To compound her misery, King she had triggered the home alarm system during this chaotic moment and, when the police arrived and got her autograph after recognizing her, she got them to leave without them figuring out what had happened.
"I wanted to say, 'Could you take out the trash?' But I didn't," she recounted. "I just wanted to get them in and out as quickly as possible."
'I Respect Her Right To Tell Her Story'
King's ex William Bumpus understands why his former wife recalled his cheating.
King spoke about the incident in 2016, which Bumpus also responded to by apologising.
And now the morning host has relived the moment again, he’s once more attempted to sum up his sorrow over the saga.
Bumpus said King "has every right to share what was a painful chapter that changed the trajectory of our marriage and our family nearly 40 years ago.”
"I respect her right to tell her story, and that’s where I’ll leave it," he added.
Despite his past actions, Bumpus said he "remain(s) endlessly grateful" to King for giving him "two of the greatest gifts of (his) life": their children — daughter Kirby, now 40, and son Will, now 39.
We 'Remain In A Good Place'
Bumpus claims he now has a heathy relationship with the TV veteran.
He also credited King, to whom he was married from 1982 to 1993, for having "encouraged and supported" him throughout his studies at Yale Law.
"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," he said. "The love and camaraderie we forged in that work carried us all these years."
Bumpus expressed his happiness that he and King "remain in a good place" all these years later and noted how the journalist recently "sent warm wishes" to his daughter Poet on her 16th birthday — an action he said "meant a great deal."
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Bumpus said he did not "fully appreciate" King's public life when they were married,
The attorney said he "did not fully appreciate Gayle's public life" during their marriage as he's "a private person by nature," adding that he wished for their life together to "be more private." He said he "wrestled" with that, but that it was "no reflection on her true talent and abilities."
In fact, he called himself "a genuine admirer and fan" who's had a "front-row seat to Gayle's remarkable success."
"I continue to work at being the best version of myself, grounded by the friendship, encouragement, and support of Gayle over the years, by the love of our grown children and our grandchildren, and by the daily privilege of raising Poet as a single dad," he concluded.
