Gayle King opened up about a deeply personal and painful moment in her life during an episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast on Wednesday, May 27. In a conversation with Alex Cooper, the TV personality shared how she discovered her then-husband, William Bumpus, was having an affair with one of her close friends. The betrayal came to light when King returned home unexpectedly after a flight was canceled, catching the couple in the act.
“I Thought We Were Friends!”
When King walked through the door, Bumpus emerged from the house in just a towel and told her to leave. At the time, she felt completely oblivious to what was happening. As she searched the house, she found her friend “cowering behind the door in my towel.”
The CBS star, now 71, admitted she felt “pitiful” in that moment. She recalled telling the woman, “I can’t believe that you are here and that you are doing this. I even said, ‘I thought we were friends!’”
The Couple’s Kids Were Home During the Drama
At the time, King’s two children were with her, so she instructed the nanny to take them to a back room in the home. When Cooper asked how she managed to stay composed during the emotional moment, King explained, “Well, 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 added that her reaction today would have been very different, joking, “It would be like, ‘Get this da da da da and take her da da da da.’” However, at the time, she was focused on protecting her children. “You know, I kept thinking, I don’t want it to be a scene because they’re little, they know this person,” she said, referring to how their kids called the woman their aunt. “And you just, my main thing was… how do I handle this situation in this moment?”
At the time, the other woman was also married, so King told her spouse she was calling her husband. Bumpus objected, saying, “Don’t call because they have a good marriage.” King responded, “They have a good marriage? The girl’s pajama bottoms are in my bed.”
Gayle King Told the Woman’s Husband About the Affair
In a state of disbelief, King called her best friend, Oprah Winfrey, to share the news. She revealed that the philanthropist is the only person she told about the infidelity. “She said, ‘Well, f— him. Call her husband,’” King continued.
When the journalist finally decided to contact the woman’s husband, he responded by telling her, “She told me you would be calling. She said that you came home early, unexpected. And you drew the wrong conclusion. And she told me you would call and say that you thought they were having an affair.”
The man dismissed her allegations, calling her “delusional” despite King providing evidence such as describing her friend’s pajamas. Recalling the moment, King said, “And then I said, ‘Go f— yourself.’ And I hung up the telephone.”
