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Gayle King has detailed the moment she discovered her then-husband William Bumpus was having an affair with a close friend, describing the experience on the Call Her Daddy podcast.
She said she returned home unexpectedly after a cancelled flight and immediately noticed something was off, including that "the alarm was set," which she said felt strange because "you're in here by yourself. You're a big, grown-ass man."
She recalled that her ex-husband rushed out of the bedroom and tried to stop her from entering, telling her, "You can't come in. Someone's here." King said she challenged him in shock, repeating, "What do you mean, 'Can't?' I can't come in, what are you talking about?"
Moments later, she said she found the woman hiding behind a door wearing her towel, which left her stunned. She said to the woman, "I can't believe that you are here and that you are doing this. I can't believe that you are doing this. I thought we were friends."
King explained that her first instinct was not public confrontation, but protecting her children, saying, "I was thinking, 'The kids are here. I don't want anybody to know.'" She added that she tried to avoid a scene because her daughter and son were very young at the time.
She initially kept the situation to herself and did not inform her family, saying she wanted to keep it private and avoid anyone finding out. The only person she confided in was her close friend Oprah Winfrey, who encouraged her to take immediate action.
Winfrey advised her to contact the other woman's husband and later urged her to travel to be with her, stressing that the situation was far more serious than she initially realized and that she needed support right away.
King said she did call the man, but the response was dismissive. She recounted him saying his wife had warned him she would call and that she was "delusional and out of touch with reality," which she said left her frustrated and disbelieved.
Following the confrontation, King said she and Bumpus eventually divorced after years of marriage, briefly reconciled, and later separated permanently when she realized "he hadn't really changed."
She added that the experience reshaped how she viewed trust, while emphasizing that her priority throughout was protecting her children and maintaining stability.