Gayle King recalls the pain of her husband cheating on her with her close friend, and how Oprah lifted her up
King was married to Williams Bumpus from 1982 to 1993. While the couple share two children, the longtime CBS host finally goes into detail about the infamous day their marriage unraveled.
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King have endured plenty over their 50 years of friendship, from sleepovers to rowdy drinking games, but one of the pivotal moments came when King needed her best friend during one of the most traumatic and heartbreaking periods of her life.
King was a guest on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast on Wednesday and in the episode, King was vocal about the faults in her marriage to William Bumpus. The pair wed in 1982 but divorced in 1993 after King discovered Bumpus was having an affair.
“I was happy,” King told Cooper around the 29-minute mark. “And you know how they say the wife always knows? I swear to God I did not. I did not. And people say, ‘Well, of course you knew.’ No, I really didn’t. Now, it’s not like we hadn’t had arguments or anything, but I didn’t think that it was
in such disrepair that he was boinking around. I did not think that.”
According to King, she and the woman with whom her husband was having an affair were friends, and their young children were also friends. However, King instantly recalled a moment of verbal intimacy between the two during a game of tennis and had a “visceral” reaction to it. King caught the two in the act after coming home early and the woman was in King’s bath towel.
“I came home and the alarm was set,” King told Cooper. “Which I thought was strange because you’re in here by yourself. You’re a big ass grown ass man. He never sets the alarm. And next thing I know, he comes flying out of the room, and he’s got a towel on and goes, ‘You can’t come in. Someone’s here.’ I was so oblivious, so I start searching the house because I couldn’t believe him. But I found her, cowering behind the door, in my towel.”
“I said, I can’t believe you are doing this.”
The discovery led to a moment of revelation for King, including a chat with the police who responded to the alarm. As much as King didn’t want it to be a scene for her children to witness, she also had Bumpus telling her not to call the woman’s husband because they “had a good marriage.”
Still, Oprah was more than fed up with the entire ordeal. As King attempted to determine whether she wanted to “ruin everyone’s life,” she made certain her first call was to her best friend. And to this day, she’s the only person she called about Bumpus’ infidelity.
“Well f–k him, call her husband,” King recalled Oprah telling her at the time. The husband, ironically enough, flipped King’s findings on her, until she had had enough of being gaslit, pointing out that the amount of sexual evidence from the woman’s underwear to sex stains in her bed was more than enough to justify her calling.
Even though the “CBS Mornings” hosts’ attempt at reconciliation with Bumpus after their initial divorce failed again due to his infidelity, King remained adamant that their relationship could be fixed. Until Oprah had had enough.
“She got so sick of hearing. She goes, ‘Please go back with him. Please, I will drive the moving van. Please!’ King said. “That’s when you realize you’re telling people too much … if you ask her now, she goes, ‘I feel like I went through that f–king divorce! It was exhausting!”
King admitted she had seen Bumpus recently, but her ex wasn’t in the best of health and was still in his old ways. Now, at 71, King has been vocal about wanting to find love again and everyone knows that when the time comes, Oprah will be right there by her side.