Melinda French Gates says Bill Gates's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein played a role in divorce

Melinda French Gates opened up about her divorce from Bill Gates for the first time, confirming reports that his relationship with sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, played a role in their split. In an interview that aired on Thursday's CBS Mornings, French Gates told co-host Gayle King it was "not one thing" that caused them to separate after 27 years together.

"It was many things. But I did not like that he'd had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no," said French Gates. "I made that clear to him."

The philanthropist said she met Epstein "exactly one time because I wanted to see who this man was."

"I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door. He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards," French Gates added. "My heart breaks for these young women, because that's how I felt, and here I'm an older woman. My god, I feel terrible for those young women. It was awful. He was awful."

"And you shared that with Bill and he still continued to spend time with him?" asked King.

"Any of the questions remaining about what Bill's relationship there, those are for Bill to answer. But I made it very clear how I felt about him," replied French Gates.

In a statement to CBS News, Bill Gates said: "Meeting with Epstein was a mistake that I regret deeply. It was a substantial error in judgment. I remain dedicated to my work at the Gates Foundation in partnership with Melinda, where our focus is to help reduce global inequities, giving every person the chance to live a healthy and productive life."

The Gates's announced they were separating in May 2021, which sent shockwaves around the world.

"I needed to take a different path. And so I think, you know, we knew that when the divorce was gonna be announced that it would be a surprise to people," French Gates told King. "I felt bad about that, but I probably, I didn't have any sense of how big of news it would be. You never, you can't anticipate something like that."

Gates, the co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft, admitted to having an affair in 2000.

"Well I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that. It wasn't one moment or one specific thing that happened, there just came a point in time where there was enough there where I just realized it wasn't healthy and I couldn't trust what we had," explained French Gates.

When asked about rumors of her ex-husband's multiple infidelities, French Gates, replied, "Those are questions Bill needs to answer."

Although she "had a lot of tears for many days," French Gates, who works alongside her ex at the Gates Foundation, said she's open to dating again and in a good place. They also share three children. French Gates said she and her former husband are "friendly at this point."

"Friends is a different word for me. And, you know, that might come over time. But for me, there's still healing that needs to happen," she added. "Certainly, I wish him well. I don't wish him harm. And I think we have a productive working relationship, and I think that will continue."