Gayle King's Ex-Husband, William Bumpus, Wants to Atone For His Mistakes

It’s always an interesting turn of events when a celebrity ex breaks their silence on a failed relationship. While some celebrities are known to be open about their relationship woes, others prefer silence. And in the case of Gayle King, the broadcast journalist and TV host has never really gone into detail about her marriage to William Bumpus.

Gayle and William were married from 1982 to 1993. And while the 71-year-old has only gone into detail about the breakdown of their union a few times, it looks like she was not the reason for the divorce. William has decided to issue an apology to Gayle, which speaks to the progress they've made as co-parents.

Per TMZ, William appears to be harboring guilt for his behavior during his marriage to Gayle.

According to William, he felt that a public apology to Gayle was needed after he cheated on her, which caused the dissolution of their marriage.

“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,” he told the outlet. “Those actions were mine. I have long owned them — including publicly in my own words in 2016, which still stand."

He continued: "Gayle has every right to share what was a painful chapter that changed the trajectory of our marriage and our family nearly forty years ago. I respect her right to tell her story, and that’s where I’ll leave it."

Interestingly, he credits Gayle for her maturity and her grace as the mother of his children, and adds that she “encouraged and supported” him in getting his Yale law degree and decided to “successfully co-parent” despite his past betrayal.

"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,” William shared. “That is where my focus remains — on my family, on my clients, and on the work ahead."

He went on to share how proud he is of Gayle and her accomplishments and says that he remains a fan of her, despite being able to handle her notoriety.

“As a private person by nature, I will admit that during our marriage I did not fully appreciate Gayle’s public life — I wanted ours to be more private, and that was something I wrestled with, and no reflection on her true talent and abilities.”

In a May 27 interview with Alex Cooper on the hit podcast Call Her Daddy, Gayle took a moment to be vulnerable and reveal why her marriage came to an end. And unfortunately, infidelity was a factor with a mind-boggling twist.

“He comes flying out of the room,” Gayle told Alex about catching her husband red-handed. “He's got a towel on, and he goes, ‘You can't come in,' ” King recalled, saying her reaction was, “What do you mean I can't come in? What are you talking about?”

She went on to share that William told her that “someone’s here,” and she later discovered that one of her friends was “cowering behind the door.”

Instead of crashing out, Gayle quickly reflected on not wanting anyone to know about the betrayal.

“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,” she told Alex. “I kept thinking, I don't want it to be a scene because they're little. They know this person.”

Although the pair was able to make amends and continue with the relationship, things came to a screeching halt in 1993.

“I didn't like who I was,” Gayle shared. “Who wants to live like that? I didn't want to be that person.”