Gayle King appears as one of the four solo cover stars for the 60th anniversary edition of the iconic magazine.
Gayle King's ex-husband, William Bumpus Sr., is a vocal fan of her Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover! After the 69-year-old CBS Mornings co-anchor found out she was one of the four women gracing the solo covers for the 60th anniversary of the swimsuit edition, her ex spoke out to rave about her latest accomplishment.
"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 on Sunday. "WOW! Bravo to you Gayle ... You Look Fantastic! Bravo to Sports Illustrated for selecting YOU!"
Bumpus Sr. 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!"
King was married to Bumpus Sr. from 1982 to 1993. They share children Kirby, 38, and William Jr., 37. She previously accused her ex of cheating on her with a friend in 1990, leading to their eventual split.
Bumpus Sr. isn't the only one who had their thoughts on King's cover. The Emmy-winning journalist shared that when she ran the idea of appearing inside the spread by her best friend Oprah Winfrey, she had nothing but support.
"Oprah said, 'You and I have two different ideas of fun. You would enjoy that.' I go, 'I do, I do," she told ET at the launch party for the magazine's annual swimsuit issue on Thursday at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City's Times Square. "But she said, 'It's so you, you should go for it.' and I do feel it's going for it."
King said that if her bestie or either of her children weren't on board, she would have opted against it. "If Oprah, favorite daughter Kirby, favorite son-in-law and favorite son, if any of them said, 'Eh I don't think you should do it,' it would have given me pause, but nobody said that," she said.
In fact, both her kids have reached out to her about the cover.
"Both of them said to me separately, 'Mom, this is really cool. We're very proud of you,'" King shared before jokingly adding, "I wonder what my ex-husband is saying. I'm gonna send him a copy!"
Appearing inside Sports Illustrated was not something King said she ever envisioned for herself. In fact, she recalled believing it was a joke when editor-in-chief MJ Day asked her to appear inside the spread.
"I thought I was being punked when they called me," she quipped. "Never in my wildest dreams. I can't tell you what this means to me. I think it speaks to what Sports Illustrated is and its terms of range of color, age, ethnicity and then all the wide variety of jobs that everybody does."
What has been most surprising to King has been the unexpected response she has received to her historic cover.
"But what's been most interesting to me is the number of women who've been stopping me, saying, 'You have no idea what an inspiration this is,'" King shared, saying she's been called "brave" for willingly posing in a swimsuit.
Admitting, "I had a little trepidation because I didn't want to look ridiculous," King said she got help from supermodel Tyra Banks, who "showed me how to stand."
She also found great strength in the Sports Illustrated team.
"They make it so comfortable to you. The team that they have at Sports Illustrated is no joke," she said.
The Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is on stands now.