LOS ANGELS, CALIFORNIA: 'CBS Mornings' host Gayle King has remained unmarried for years and tends to keep her private life completely under wraps as a very public personality. Looking back at her past, there are incidents that justify her decision to do so.
King has only ever had one partner that she had been openly and officially together with and it was her ex-husband Wiliam Bumpus. They were together for years before a controversial separation broke the two apart. The former couple also shares two children.
Who is William Bumpus?
Bumpus is a 69-year-old who was born and brought up in London. He eventually moved to America for further education and started residing in Connecticut for his studies at Central Connecticut State University. He later decided to pursue law and joined the Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut. Bumpus first started working as an Assistant Attorney General and moved on to become a civil attorney, eventually landing the position of Connecticut Assistant Attorney Criminal Prosecutor.
Bumpus and King got together in 1981, and it was not long after that when they decided to tie the knot in 1982. The couple had two children in their time together: a daughter named Kirby and a son named William Bumpus Jr. After eight years of marriage, it was King who took a step back and filed for divorce, having found out that Bumpus was cheating on her with another woman. They officially divorced in 1993.
Why did Gayle King and William Bumpus separate?
King has never been quiet about her divorce and has revealed many details about the same in the past. She had apparently walked in on her husband sleeping with another woman, who was reportedly one of her friends. This happened back in 1990 and it took them a few years to get through the processes of divorce proceedings. The two were co-parents for their children who were really young at the time.
While Bumpus did not say anything publicly when the whole controversy went down in the 90s, he did come forward to make a public apology to King in 2016. "I have been haunted with this life-altering choice," Bumpus told Page Six, "Though I have dealt with this privately . . . I publicly apologize for the major transgression that dramatically changed all of our lives." He further added to the apology saying, "Gayle was a great wife, an excellent mother and a fantastic co-parent. 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. I continue to be a work in progress and have spent the last 26 years striving to be a better man and father. I applaud Gayle’s continued phenomenal success and friendship!”