Gayle King Heartbreak: Which Friend Was Involved In William Bumpus Cheating Row?

Gayle King recalled how she found out about her ex-husband's affair and the immediate aftermath.

The CBS Mornings host confirmed that she caught her ex-husband William Bumpus cheating with a close female friend during the Call Her Daddy podcast. She said that the woman involved was someone she considered a true friend, leaving the person's identity undisclosed.

King noted how something was immediately off after realising their security alarm was enabled, even with Bumpus in the house. She was supposed to go on a trip at the time, but the flight was cancelled and she headed home.

Gayle King Recounts the Exact Moment of Betrayal

'He comes flying out of the room,' King recalled. 'He's got a towel on and he goes, "You can't come in,"' to which she responded, 'What do you mean I can't come in? What are you talking about?' She said her ex simply said that 'someone's here,' which further raised her suspicions.

'I start searching the house because I didn't believe him. I didn't believe him,' she continued. 'I get down and there she is, cowering behind the door in my towel, Alex. It was a nice bath sheet.' She confronted the woman, saying, 'I can't believe that you are here and you are doing this.' 'I even said, "I thought we were friends." I sounded so pitiful.'

William Bumpus Cheated a Woman His Kids Called Their 'Aunt'

King's children did not witness the betrayal, because she asked the nanny to take them away soon after they arrived. She did confirm that her children knew the woman well enough and called her their aunt.

'I was thinking, "The kids are here. I don't want anybody to know,"' she explained. '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.'

Bumpus' 'security measure' also backfired, because the alarm was triggered during the confrontation. 'The police came, and they said, "Hey, oh my God, it's Gayle King!"' she said. 'I wanted to say, "Could you take out the trash?" But I didn't.' She immediately called her best friend Oprah Winfrey, who responded, 'Oh, girl, you don't even know how bad this is.'

Gayle King Accused as 'Delusional' in Heated Confrontation

Bumpus told King not to call the unnamed woman's husband, implying she would ruin their 'good marriage,' but Winfrey convinced King otherwise. It turned out the woman had already 'explained' the situation with her husband.

'I call him, and he said, "She told me you would be calling. She said that you came home early unexpected, and you drew the wrong conclusion,"' King said. '"And she told me you would call and say that you thought they were having an affair." Masterful, isn't that masterful?'

The man apparently turned the tables, and told King she was sorely mistaken. 'He said to me, "You are delusional and out of touch with reality and I suggest you get some help,"' she recalled. King said she clapped back at the accusation, citing damning evidence of the affair.

'I said, "Okay, you think I should get some help? Does your wife have a pink satin pyjama top? Does she have some green mint panties that go with that? And oh, by the way, Richard, there are semen stains in my bed. So am I delusional and out of touch with reality? Go f*** yourself."'

King and Bumpus divorced in 1993 after 11 years of marriage. The infidelity broke King's trust, which proved irreparable even after they sought marital counselling. They maintained mutual respect in the aftermath and successfully co-parented their daughter Kirby and son William Jr., now aged 40 and 39.

King's ex admitted to cheating in a 2016 Page Six interview, saying 'I have been haunted with this life-altering choice. Though I have dealt with this privately ... I publicly apologise for the major transgression that dramatically changed all of our lives.'