Gayle King on the Shocking Moment She Caught Her Ex-Husband Cheating with a Friend

Gayle King is getting candid about catching her ex-husband William Bumpus Sr. cheating on her with a friend in 1990.

King sat down with Alex Cooper for the latest episode of “Call Her Daddy," revealing how she found out and how Oprah helped her through the devastating event.

Gayle recalled of that time period, "I was happy. And you know how they say the wife always knows? I swear to God I did not… 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."

She recalled one day she was playing tennis with her husband and the friend, and the friend told him, “Nice shot, Bill.”

"And the way she said it, there was such an intimacy in her voice that the hair stood up on the back of my neck,” she recalled.

Gayle was confused. “She was married, too. We were married. We both had two little kids. So, our kids were friends. The spouses were friends. But there was something about the way she said, 'Nice shot, Bill.’”

When she tried asking William about the encounter in the car, he dismissed it.

Fast-forward, and Gayle says, "I came home and caught him unexpected. I wasn't due home.”

She found it odd that William had set the security alarm, despite being home alone.

When the alarm went off, William came out and tried to stop Gayle and the kids from going inside the house, but she did anyway and that’s when she found her friend.

King said, “There she is cowering behind the door in my towel… I said, 'I can't believe that you are here and that you are doing this. I can't believe that you are doing this.’”

She said the woman told her, “He doesn't even love you. He's only with you for the children and his lifestyle.”

Gayle explained, "I was a big-time anchor. I was doing very well. I was paying for him to go to Yale Law School. Very smart guy.”

Meanwhile, the police showed up because the alarm had gone off!

“They said, ‘Hey! Oh, my God, it's Gayle King… Are you okay?’… and they said, 'Could I get your autograph?’ And I'm just thinking, 'Yeah, sure, sure, sure.' I wanted to say, 'Could you take out the trash?’"

Gayle said the first thing she wanted to do after catching William cheating was call the other woman’s husband.

William told her, “Don't call because they have a good marriage.”

King recalled asking, “They have a good marriage? The girl's pajama bottoms are in my bed… Where does he think she is?”

Bumpus claimed the husband thought his wife was at a conference. He told Gayle, “I'm gonna take her to the train station so her husband can pick her up so he won't know.”

At that point, King called Oprah, who told her, “Let me get this straight. He left you there alone and went with her?… Oh, girl, you don't even know how bad this is.”

Gayle told Alex, "And I'm going, ‘Yeah, but he said they had a good marriage.' Stupid.”

After talking with Oprah for two hours, Gayle did call the woman’s husband and got a surprising response.

King explained, "He said, '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.’ Masterful. Isn't that masterful?"

She went on, “So, he said to me, and they were both doctors, psychologists as another layer. He said to me, 'You are delusional and out of touch with reality and I suggest you get some help.’ Well, then I said, 'Okay, you think I should get some help? Does your wife have a pink satin pajama top? Does she have some green mint panties that go with that?’"

King said she added, “By the way… there are semen stains in my bed. So am I delusional and out of touch with reality?'”

She told him, "Go f**k yourself,” and hung up.

Oprah also helped Gayle put the situation into perspective.

King shared, "She said, 'You know what? The fact that she could talk to you that way in front of him, imagine what he has said to her about you.' Isn't that good? Because I hadn't thought of that. She goes, 'Just the fact that she felt comfortable enough in your house, buck naked with your towel, that she could put you down in front of him and he didn't defend you. Imagine what he has told her about you.' Isn't that good? And I go, 'I haven’t thought about that.’"

Oprah offered to fly Gayle and her kids to Chicago to get some time away.

King said, "She goes, 'I'll send you guys tickets. I will send you three tickets. Gayle, your head has been blown off. You need to get on a plane and you need to come here.' And I go, 'I can't. I can’t.' I mean, I look at it now and it's just so stupid.”

Gayle and William had their ups and downs after that. King revealed, "We actually got divorced and got back together. And then I realized he hadn't really changed, but I was turning into such a shrew. I would be out in the garage feeling the hood of the car to see if it was warm. I was going through his phone. And I thought, 'I don't want to live like this only to find out he was cheating again.'"

They officially divorced in 1993, and in 2016 he publicly apologized for his actions.

In a statement to Page Six, he wrote, “I have been haunted with this life-altering choice,” “Though I have dealt with this privately… I publicly apologize for the major transgression that dramatically changed all of our lives.”

He continued, “I have nothing but the utmost respect for Gayle and how she handled herself with grace. Despite the situation, she kept our children, as well as my relationship and involvement with them, as a clear priority."

These days, Gayle is single and told Alex what she’s looking for in a man.

“It would be nice to meet somebody that thinks you're fun to hang out with,” she said. "I would like younger, not someone I could give birth to, but younger, you know, like Tom Brady's age, I just saw Tom Brady… I had to stop myself from going, ‘You are so good-looking.' He's also terrific. Tom Brady will appreciate this sense of humor… But I don't mind younger 'cause I'm thinking guys my age, they wear hats. They tend to be a little boring. You can't generalize. You can't generalize. But that has been my experience so far."

Alex also asked, "What would people be surprised to know you're into? Just for like a guy, what do you look for?”