Billy Bush Spending Time with Ex-Wife During Coronavirus

Publish date: 2024-05-21

Billy Bush and his ex-wife Sydney Davis are spending time together amid the coronavirus crisis.

On the latest episode of Dennis Quaid's Audio Up podcast, The Dennissance, Bush, 48, opened up about how the pandemic unexpectedly brought the family together.

"Interestingly, during coronavirus, every night, I'm with my ex-wife and my kids and we all have dinner together and we're back together," he said. "She's one of the greatest people on the planet and a phenomenal chef extraordinaire."

"We play games every night and it's like, wow," he added. "It's fantastic. So that's really good."

Bush and Davis wed in 1998 and share daughters Josie, 21, Mary, 19, and Lillie, 15. The couple announced their separation in September 2017 and finalized the divorce two years later. Provisions related to spousal support, child support and child custody were not made public.

Their split came nearly a year after Bush was abruptly fired from the Today show after a videotape was leaked to The Washington Post, in which then-Apprentice host Donald Trump bragged to Bush about groping women.

Speaking to Quaid, 66, Bush maintained that the scandal and his divorce were "not connected."

"The mid-life crisis, 360 [degrees]. Let's just go, all of it at once!" he said. "You're just riddled with bullets."

"You get a kaboom," he added. "I got a full kaboom — professional, private, personal, all of it."

RELATED VIDEO: Billy Bush's Wife Sydney Davis Files for Divorce

Bush, who is now the host of Extra, reflected on how the infamous tape affected his reputation and his relationships with his kids.

"It's such an ugly moment. Yeah, you want to delete it. Of course you want to delete it," he said. "But you can't and it's out there for the world to consume and your children, most importantly, it's just humiliating, embarrassing, it's s----y. You suck. There's no denying the moment is a terrible moment."

"And by the way, it's well-documented, one of [my kids] held me to task in a major way," he added. "You can't reason with a 16-year-old ... You realize, the only thing you can say is, 'You're right. I got nothing, I'm sorry.'"

Bush also thanked Quaid and other friends for their support during the scandal.

"The reason why I'm allowed to be the way I am today and I'm full force and I'm back doing what I'm doing and I'm all-guns-blazing is because of the public support and the private support, from you and Cindy Crawford and Julie Bowen and Kate Walsh and all of the people I love in this business," he said. "But the public, when you're told enough times, 'Wow, you might have been over-punished,' then you realize, 'Okay, they're with me, they're not crazy, and they'll let me back up.' What's interesting about life is watching somebody get up and watching someone come back. How have they changed? I'm a much nicer person. I'm much more curious about other people's experiences. I only take the good out of it at this point."

"I'm almost fully drained of the resentment. Not fully, but mostly. ... There's one guy I'd like to meet in a dark alley," he added with a laugh. "Look, nobody goes unscathed in this world. And I'm not special or extraordinary. My circumstances are definitely unique. But everybody has something."

In a statement to PEOPLE, Quaid applauded his pal for the candid interview.

"Speaking with Billy Bush was an extraordinary experience. He has such a unique story — achieving so much early on to having it all disappear in the blink of an eye," he said. "This is a person who tells a tale of forgiveness, redemption, and self-improvement. I think people will enjoy this episode of the podcast, and these are the unique stories we're trying to tell with The Dennissance."

In 2018, Bush opened up to PEOPLE about the impact the scandal had on his marriage. At the time, he said he remained hopeful that his relationship with Davis could "find its next leg," even though he acknowledged they had experienced "difficulties" long before he began working at Today.

"We got married young and had our first child right away," he said. "We're taking a step back. We get to explore and take our time. She's been so awesome through everything. I love her very much."

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