How Gayle King feels about ex-husband William Bumpus’ apology for ‘painful’ cheating scandal

Gayle King was shocked that her ex-husband William Bumpus issued a public apology after she spoke out about him cheating on her during their 11-year marriage.

The journalist told TMZ Thursday she was “surprised” Bumpus, whom she was married to from 1982 to 1993, was “even talking, because he never talks.”

“So I was surprised, but I can also say I appreciated what he had to say,” she continued.

King, 71, added that Bumpus’ infidelity led to a “very painful time.”

“Anybody that’s been through it knows how painful it is, but I also know that you can go through it and get through it on the other side,” King expressed.

She explained that both she and her ex-husband have “healed” and “moved on” in the years since the affair.

“And the reason why I can talk about it so candidly, to be honest with you, is because it has been so much time that has passed, and I’m in a really great place, and so is he,” she noted.

King confirmed that, while the two do keep in touch, she wasn’t aware he would release a statement.

Above all else, the “CBS Mornings” host said she is taken aback by the “reaction” she’s gotten from other women.

“That’s the thing that has touched me more than anything,” she confessed, before stating that she didn’t plan on talking about it when first sitting down to do Wednesday’s episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.

King teased that host Alex Cooper got her to open up by letting her wear her “casual, comfy clothes” and putting her in a “salmon-colored chair.”

All jokes aside, the anchor now wants other women to know “it’s a very big club, none of us want to be in it, but the beauty is you can go through it and come out on the other side, you can really be OK.”

Now, King said she is looking for her knight in shining armor.

“Where is he? That’s the question,” she joked.

On Wednesday, Bumpus told Page Six in part, “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. Those actions were mine.”

Earlier that day, King recounted the time she “came home” and “caught” Bumpus cheating on her with a good friend.

The CBS star’s main objective was to protect her children — daughter Kirby, now 40, and son Will, now 39.

After calling her long-time bestie, Oprah Winfrey, King decided to phone the other woman’s husband and fill him in on his wife’s extracurricular activities.

King forgave Bumpus, but once he cheated for a second time, the duo split for good.

However, this wasn’t the first time the author has spoken out about the incident.

King first disclosed Bumpus’ indiscretion in 2016, which led her ex to issue his first public apology.

At the time, a rep for the law partner told Page Six: “I have been haunted with this life altering choice,” noting that, “Gayle was a great wife, an excellent mother and a fantastic co-parent.”