Melinda French Gates stopped by ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday, April 14 to promote her new book, The Next Day. And in while discussing the topics in memoir, the 60-year-old philanthropist explained why she decided to address her separation from Bill Gates despite being a private person.
“It was important because if I’m going to be my most authentic self, people knew I had gone through it,” French Gates said, when asked about writing about the split within the book’s pages.
“[Divorice is] hard on any family, so I write from my perspective,” she continued. “But it’s not something I would wish on anybody — and unfortunately so many families go through it. It is a big transition. And for me, while it was painful for sure, I ended up learning some lessons and there was some growth in there, too.”
“I’m learning that there’s still a lot of play and so much joy in life,” she added, while reflecting on her life currently.
Gates and French Gates announced their divorce in a joint statement in 2021, which read: “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage.”
“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 statement continued.
Since then, French Gates has embraced that next phase. In 2024, she described her life as “wonderful.” More recently, she told Elle that she hopes people see that “she’s thriving on the other side of a divorce.”
In her new book, French Gates looks back on some of her life’s biggest turning points — from divorcing one of the world’s richest men to becoming a mom (and grandmom!) as well as leaving the Gates foundation — and shares the lessons she’s learned about embracing new chapters.
“I’m not trying to give advice to anybody,” she recently told PEOPLE in a cover story, cognizant of her “absurd” privilege. But at 60, she’s been through a lot, and she knows firsthand that “it takes courage forging a different life.
The most difficult transition to discuss in the book was her split from Bill Gates, 69, after 27 years of marriage. “It was important for me to be real,” she explains of the chapter in her book tracing the end of their marriage.
“Hopefully,” she adds “it’s helpful to someone else.”
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Of course, divorce is just one part of the story, but every detail French Gates shares in her book explores the same feeling of uncertainty — and figuring out the best way to navigate that without losing yourself or your way.
“Transitions can be scary, exhilarating or both,” she told PEOPLE. “But anything’s possible. And when you get to the other side, you’re going to be okay.”
The Next Day is out now.
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