Ex-Husband Responds to Gayle Kings Cheating Revelation

's ex-husband has spoken out after the TV personality detailed the moment with her friend during their marriage.

The CBS Mornings co-host, 71, was married to William Bumpus for 11 years from 1982 to 1993, but towards the end of their marriage, they were rocked by his devastating affair.

After King - who shares daughter Kirby and son William Jr with Bumpus - discussed the cheating ordeal on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Bumpus apologized for his actions 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,' he said.

'Those actions were mine. I have long owned them — including publicly in my own words in 2016, which still stand,' Bumpus added.

'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.'

Bumpus also admitted that he wrestled with Gayle's very public life during the time they were wed.

'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. I am proud to have had a front-row seat to Gayle’s remarkable success, and I remain a genuine admirer and fan.'

'That is where my focus remains — on my family, on my clients, and on the work ahead.' 

His statement came after King recounted the moment she caught him cheating on her in their marital home with a woman whom she had considered a family friend.

The infidelity was exposed when King returned home unannounced from , with their two young children.

Speaking to Alex Cooper, 31, on the Call Her Daddy podcast, King revealed she walked in on the pair, who were both naked underneath bath robes. 

As she tried to enter the house, however, her husband desperately tried to keep her from coming in.

'He comes flying out of the room and he's got a towel on, and he goes, "You can't come in,"' she recalled, adding that he warned her that someone was in the house.

At first, King said she was so 'oblivious' that she didn't believe anyone else was in their home.

But upon facing more resistance from William, she started searching the house until she ultimately found the woman 'cowering behind the door' in her towel.

King claimed that she confronted the woman, who was also married with two young children.

Addressing her, she said: 'I can't believe you are here and that you are doing this.'

Meanwhile, King's children, who were just toddlers at the time, were outside with their nanny.

King had suspicions that her husband might be having an affair before she caught him in the act.

On one occasion, she had heard the friend compliment her husband on his tennis abilities, which caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.

King said she quizzed her husband after this interaction but that he immediately 'gaslit' her when he responded by saying: 'What are you talking about?'

Despite this encounter, King didn't think an affair was happening until she came home to see it with her own eyes.

King said she quickly confided in her famous friend Oprah Winfrey, who, after hearing the story, summarized, 'You don't even know how bad this is.' 

Bumpus has previously responded to his ex's admission about his affair.

In 2016, he told Page Six: 'I have been haunted with this life-altering choice. Though I have dealt with this privately... I publicly apologize for the major transgression that dramatically changed all of our lives.'

He also said of King: 'I have nothing but the utmost respect for Gayle and how she handled herself with grace.' 

'Despite the situation, she kept our children, as well as my relationship and involvement with them, as a clear priority.'

'Gayle was a great wife, an excellent mother, and a fantastic co-parent,' he added.

'I am eternally grateful for all that she has done and continues to do to enrich my life and the lives of our incredible adult children.'