Larry King's estranged wife Shawn breaks silence on divorce: 'I was totally blindsided'

Shawn Southwick King, the estranged wife of Larry King, is speaking out about her split from the legendary broadcaster, one month after he filed for divorce. In an interview with DailyMailTV, Southwick said she was "crushed" and "blindsided," only learning of the news when a reporter called her while she was at their second home in Utah.

"I was crushed, I had no idea that this was coming, it hurt yeah. I was totally blindsided," she said through tears. King filed papers in L.A. County court on Aug. 20 after 22 years of marriage. Southwick hinted his decision may be connected with his health scare earlier this year. The former CNN host — who has struggled with heart disease for decades — underwent a heart procedure in April.

"He’s going through a lot right now... his health issues, that can really shake you to your core, it shook me to my core to see him so vulnerable and he doesn’t remember two solid weeks of time," Southwick said. "It’s life, it’s real, it’s not fun."

King filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, listing the date of separation as June 6, 2019. A TMZ report last month claimed a family incident stemming from the April health scare prompted the divorce. Specifically, that their kids urged King to end the marriage when they learned Southwick served her ailing husband legal documents trying to "screw them out of their inheritance." The estranged couple share two children, sons Chance, 20, and Cannon, 19. Southwick called the report "ludicrous."

"They've been raised in the entertainment business, in the public eye, so they've been around it, but they've never been the subject of the headlines. And it was very upsetting to them to have things attributed to them that were not true and so much so that they went to their social media platforms and set the record straight, but initially it was really hard on them," she continued. "They had seen some of the headlines and were frantic to call me to make sure that I knew that they never did or never would say anything like that. It brought us very close together and brought clarity and made a bad thing a good thing."

She added, "From what I am hearing they were saying that I was trying to take money away from my boys and that's just ludicrous. Completely false."

Southwick told DailyMailTV she has yet to be served with any paperwork.

"I'm sad, I never expected to be at this place in my life, in our lives and have this happen in such a public way," she said. "I don't think, again I'm not in Larry's head, I refuse to believe that he intended to humiliate me. It's strange, I can't quite wrap my head around it, but it is what it is... it hurts."

She added: "Larry has a very strong personality, Larry does what Larry wants, that doesn't mean that I can't disagree with him because I have and I do and will continue for as long as we are on this earth."

Southwick said she doesn't intend to fight the divorce — if King goes through with it.

"We’re a very passionate couple, neither one of us are quiet, we’re horrible at divorce, we tried but we didn’t ever quite get there, but you know, we’ll see what happens. It has been weeks and I haven’t been served," she said.

The couple filed for divorce before in 2010 but reconciled months later. Their marriage has been turbulent in recent years, with both accused of infidelity. Southwick is King's seventh wife. He has been married eight times before.

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