Melinda Gates is spilling the tea on her world-shifting divorce from tech magnate Bill Gates. The power couple stopped the world in its tracks in May 2021 when they announced the end of their marriage after 27 years. Now, three years after finalizing the divorce, Melinda is opening up about how she navigated that phase of life while the whole world watched.
Although the Gates’ divorce was a shocker, Melinda revealed that the decision to split was anything but hasty. According to the billionaire, she and Gates were living separately for at least a year, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, before the divorce news. “You know, I separated first before I made the full decision about a divorce,” she told TIME Magazine before adding:
“The other thing I would say, though, is, unusually, it gave us the privacy to do what needed to be done in private.”
Melinda Gates.
During the separation period, Bill and Melinda took turns living in their family home and a separate residence. “To be able to do that in private while I’m still trying to take care of the kids, while still making certain decisions about how you’re going to disentangle your life—thank God,” she said of the experience.
Melinda Gates Says Post-Divorce Life Is ‘Wonderful’
While it was a relief to have a mostly private divorce, the mother-of-three admits that separating from Bill was far from easy. “Getting a divorce is a horrible thing. It’s just painful. It’s awful when you realize you need one,” she candidly spilled. However, now that it is in the past, Melinda is full of joy. “But now that it’s over?” she said with a chuckle. “It has been wonderful.”
Part of that post-divorce wonder includes living house she absolutely adores. The Texas native confessed she never really liked the home her ex-husband built.
“I live in a neighborhood. Now I can walk to little stores. I can walk to the drugstore, I can walk to a restaurant. I absolutely love it.”
As she approaches 60 in August, Melinda is more than open to finding love again. Her desired characteristics in a partner include “somebody who’s open to learning and who’s vibrant and who’s smart, and somebody who challenges me and that I challenge.”
