Gayle King has responded to her ex-husband’s apology for infidelity.
After appearing on Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper, King shared the shocking details of her ex, William Bumpus, cheating with her friend.
Following the episode, Bumpus offered an apology in a statement to TMZ.
“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,” the Connecticut-based attorney began his mea culpa. “Those actions were mine.”
Eventually, King shared that she was “surprised” by Bumpus’s public apology.
“I did not know he was going to do it,” King told TMZ of the apology. “When I got up this morning and read it, I was very, very surprised. He didn’t say anything to me about it, but I’m very appreciative.”
“I was surprised that you guys found him,” she continued. “Secondly, she was stunned “he was even talking because he never talks. So I was surprised, but I can also say I appreciated what he had to say. That was a very painful time.”
Despite the infidelity, King and Bumpus reconciled and stayed together until 1993. That year, King discovered that he was cheating again.
“Anyone who has been through it knows how painful it is,” King told TMZ. “But I also know that you can go through it and get through it on the other side. This happened so long ago that we have both healed. And we’ve both moved on. The reason I can talk about it so candidly is that so much time has passed. I’m in a really great place and so is he.”
In the interview, King said that Oprah Winfrey was the first person she called after the affair.
“Oprah goes, ‘Let me get this straight. He left you there alone and went with her?’ I know your mouth is open,” King told Cooper. “And she said, ‘Oh girl, you don’t even know how bad this is.’ And I’m going, ‘Yeah, but he said they had a good marriage.’”
“She said, ‘Well, call her husband.’ I go, ‘You think I should call?’ [She said], ‘Yes. Call.’”