4 months ago
23 ARTICLE AD
Sports Illustrated released their annual Swimsuit Issue cover last week, with four cover models: Chrissy Teigen, Hunter McGrady, Kate Upton, and Gayle King. For Gayle, who turns 70 in December, this was a pretty big deal! In an interview with People, she told them that being on the cover was “one of the highlights of all the things I’ve done because I never thought this would be possible.” She was so excited and shared that her adult children were proud of her too. I love this so much for her!
Gayle also joked that she wondered what her ex-husband, William Bumpus, thought of the cover, quipping that she was going to send him a copy. Well, Bumpus has seen the cover now, and he had such a cute and funny reaction to it, telling Page Six that he thought Gayle looked “fantastic.” Awww. He also added that he’s now able to cross “hooking up with a Sports Illustrated Model” off of his bucket list. LOL!
“Well, I can mark off one more item on my highly unlikely to ever happen bucket list! My teenage fantasy of hooking up with a Sports Illustrated Model has finally come true,” the lawyer wrote in a statement to Page Six Sunday.
“WOW! Bravo to you Gayle … You Look Fantastic! Bravo to Sports Illustrated for selecting YOU!”
Bumpus — who was married to King from 1982 to 1993 — added that his ex has always “been Beautiful Inside and Out (sic).”
“I appreciate you more and more as time goes on, as a trailblazer, and also when I see our phenomenal kids and grandkids!” he continued. “I am proud of you and continue to wish you nothing but happiness. Enjoy!”
William and the “CBS Mornings” host, 69, share two children: daughter Kirby Bumpus, 38, and son William Bumpus Jr., 37. The former couple allegedly faced infidelity in their marriage, with King claiming to have found her ex-husband “naked” in bed with another woman in 1990. She recalled the incident during a 2016 Vanity Fair Q&A when she was asked, “Which living person do you most despise?”
“Despise is a strong word. I’m not a huge fan of the woman who I caught naked with my now ex-husband on June 24, 1990, at 9:16 p.m. — but I don’t remember the details,” the TV personality said at the time. Days later, William opened up about the alleged infidelity to Page Six, telling us, “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.”
However, the two appear to now have an amicable relationship since King quipped she was going to send her ex a copy of her SI Swimsuit cover.
“I wonder what my ex-husband is saying,” she told “Entertainment Tonight” Thursday. “I’m gonna send him a copy!”
I really am happy for Gayle, and it’s refreshing to see two exes have a lighthearted dynamic like that. While I can’t relate to hooking up with a Sports Illustrated model, but Bumpus is right about one thing: Gayle really does look fantastic on the cover. I like the bathing suit she’s wearing on the cover, but I really love the yellow suit she’s wearing on one of the pages. In an interview with ET, Gayle said that Tyra Banks helped teach her how to stand and that she’s had a lot of women tell her that she’s an “inspiration.” There’s also a picture of her modeling in an adorable white halter suit that makes her look like a pin-up. All I’m saying is that I can see why she’d want to send a copy of the issue to her ex. I totally would too.
