NEWSMelinda Gates Confesses She and Bill Secretly Separated 1 Year Before They Announced Their Divorce in 2021: 'Scariest Conversation'
Melinda and Bill Gates were married for over two decades before splitting up.
In 2021, Bill and Melinda Gates shocked the masses by announcing they were ending their 27-year marriage, but behind closed doors, the pair's relationship had been crumbling for quite some time.
Melinda dishes on their ups and downs in her book The Next Day, which releases on Tuesday, April 15.
Melinda Gates details the end of her marriage to Bill Gates in her upcoming memoir, 'The Next Day.'
"It was important for me to be real," the 60-year-old told a news outlet of why she's sharing her story. "Hopefully, it might be helpful to someone else."
Though the Microsoft founder, 69, admitted to cheating on his spouse, she didn't begin seriously thinking about a split until 2019, which was the year it was revealed that Bill had meetings with late s-- offender Jeffrey Epstein. (At the time, Bill admitted he was "stupid" to socialize with Epstein but said their talks were only about asking for charity donations.)
The mother-of-three revealed she separated from Bill one year before they announced their divorce in 2021.
That year, the mom-of-three started having nightmares about their family falling off a cliff.
“As dramatic as it sounds, I knew, in that moment, that I was going to have to make a decision — and that I was going to have to make it by myself," she wrote in her book.
In February 2020, Melinda asked the businessman to join her on a vacation to New Mexico, where she worked up the courage to tell Bill she wanted to live separately.
"It was one of the scariest conversations I’d have had," she admitted in her memoir.
Melinda said Bill was "upset" about her feelings but also understood where she was coming from.
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
Melinda admitted asking to live separately was the 'scariest conversation.'
The exes didn't feel ready yet to share their decision with the world, so they continued to put on a united front at events.
By that summer, she asked Bill for a divorce.
The situation led to Melinda having "panic attacks," something she first experienced years prior.
In May 2021, the exes announced their divorce, a process Melinda referred to as "grueling."
"After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," they shared via social media. "Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives. We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives."
The pair's divorce was finalized in 2021 after marrying in 1994.
Reflecting on why they split, Melinda spilled, "It takes courage forging a different life. When you change paths, you realize, oh, it’s a big opening."
People spoke to Melinda and obtained excerpts from her book.
