• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Melinda Gates discusses 'painful' divorce from Bill Gates and details ‘things that happened outside the marriage’

Home> News> Sex & Relationships

Published 18:03 2 Jul 2025 GMT+1

Melinda Gates discusses 'painful' divorce from Bill Gates and details ‘things that happened outside the marriage’

Melinda Gates has opened up about the divorce on a new podcast

Jen Thomas

Jen Thomas

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/How To Fail with Elizabeth Day

Topics: Bill Gates, Charity, Podcast, Technology, Sex and Relationships

Jen Thomas
Jen Thomas

Jen Thomas is a freelance journalist and radio presenter for Magic Radio and Planet Rock, specialising in music and entertainment writing.

X

@jenthomasradio

Advert

Advert

Advert

Everything can seem great in a marriage behind closed doors, but clearly things may not always be as they seem - something Melinda French Gates has opened up about during a recent podcast appearance.

Melinda was speaking on the How To Fail podcast with Elizabeth Day when she made the revelations around her marriage to tech mogul Bill Gates.

The philanthropist was married to the Microsoft founder for 27 years, and has spoken out about why she decided to seek a divorce in 2021 - something which Gates has said is a mistake 'he most regrets'.

She talked about the 'inner voice' which knew things were no longer right between them.

Advert

Melinda told host Elizabeth: “When that voice would come — and it would come at different times because of things that had happened outside the marriage that I would later come to learn about — I kept pushing it away.”

Melinda said the voice eventually became too loud to ignore: “At some point I had to turn towards it, and I just knew it and I knew it in my soul.”

Melinda and Bill Gates married in 1994 but shocked the world when they announced their separation and divorce in 2021 (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Robin Hood)
Melinda and Bill Gates married in 1994 but shocked the world when they announced their separation and divorce in 2021 (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Robin Hood)

She said she knew she had to 'take time and quiet, to myself, to ask 'why am I staying? What would it be like if I left?'

Advert

She also admitted that she felt pressured to stay in the marriage for the sake of their three children, Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22.

Their philanthropic and charitable work for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was also at the forefront of her mind.

"We had a foundation and that was big and I believed in that work. I still believe in the work of the foundation,” she said.

Despite this inner voice, Melinda revealed it took her a surprisingly long time to decide the marriage had reached the point of no return, and insists she took the marriage 'seriously' and it wasn't ended on a whim.

Advert

She confessed: “I took marriage — and I still do — very, very seriously and it wasn’t just two of us involved, it was five of us."

Melinda has opened up about her decision to divorce Bill (YouTube/How To Fail with Elizabeth Day)
Melinda has opened up about her decision to divorce Bill (YouTube/How To Fail with Elizabeth Day)

The former couple originally met back in 1987 when they attended a Microsoft sales meeting.

It's claimed he asked her out on a date while in the parking lot after the meeting, when Melinda was a product manager and Bill was CEO of the company.

Advert

They eventually wed in 1994, before announcing their shock divorce in 2021.

Bill and Melinda had actually separated in secret a year before, as they couldn't 'grow together as a couple in this next phase of life'.

It has never been confirmed what actually happened between the two, but Bill revealed he had 'caused' pain to his family while speaking on The Today Show, according to Page Six.

Shockingly, Melinda then appeared on CBS Mornings and said that Bill's business meetings with disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had caused problems within their marriage, the publication also reported.

“I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him, he was abhorrent. He was evil personified," she said.

Advert

Melinda has gone on to find love with another entrepreneur Philip Vaughn, while Bill is currently in a relationship with Paula Hurd, a former tech executive.

Speaking about the regrets, Bill told The Times about the divorce: "You would have to put that at the top of the list. There are others but none that matter... Melinda and I still see each other, we have three kids and two grandchildren, so there are family events.

"The kids are doing well. They have good values."

Choose your content:

an hour ago
3 hours ago
4 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Donald Trump makes shocking threat he wants to deport US citizens and people are stunned

    Donald Trump has made a threat to deport US citizens following the opening of a migrant centre in Florida

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Bryan Kohberger speaks for first time in court admitting to how he brutally murdered four Idaho students

    The Idaho murder suspect has spoken out following the brutal murders of four students in 2022

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Former prosecutor explains why Diddy was found not guilty on 3 out of 5 counts in sex trafficking and prostitution case

    A legal expert has shared his thoughts about why Sean 'Diddy' Combs has been found not guilty of three counts

    News
  • 4 hours ago

    Witness inside courtroom reveals shocking way Diddy reacted as he was found guilty on 2 out of 5 counts at trial

    Diddy has been found guilty of two of the five charges he was facing

    News
  • Melinda Gates responds to Bill Gates' claim their divorce is the ‘mistake he most regrets’
  • Melinda Gates reveals how ex-husband Bill Gates reacted when she asked for a divorce
  • Bill Gates admits divorce from ex-wife Melinda is the ‘mistake he most regrets’
  • Bill Gates reveals the one thing that impressed him about Donald Trump during three-hour dinner