Long before he became one of the most recognizable Democrats in the country, California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he was drifting through his personal life without fully engaging in it — including his first marriage.
According to the New York Post, in his forthcoming memoir, Young Man in a Hurry, Newsom reflects candidly on his relationship with Kimberly Guilfoyle, admitting he was emotionally unavailable and detached during their time together.
The book is set for release Feb. 24.
Newsom writes that he entered the marriage at a point when he had learned how to suppress his emotions rather than confront them.
“Kimberly allowed me this emotional distance,” the governor wrote, according to excerpts reported by The New York Times.
At the time, Newsom was serving as mayor of San Francisco, and the couple quickly became a high-profile political pairing. They were often dubbed “the New Kennedys,” a label that added glamour — and pressure — to their public image.
Behind the scenes, Newsom suggests the relationship lacked genuine intimacy. He described the lead-up to their wedding as a process devoid of deep reflection or emotion.
“I was just going through all the motions until the motions led me right up to the altar,” he wrote, according to The Times.
The marriage unraveled in 2005, when Guilfoyle filed for divorce. She cited the strain of demanding careers that kept them living on opposite coasts. Guilfoyle later went on to date Donald Trump Jr. and currently serves as the U.S. ambassador to Greece.
As the marriage was collapsing, Newsom became embroiled in an affair with his deputy chief of staff’s wife — a scandal that would follow him for years. In the memoir, he describes that episode as “the worst betrayal of my life.”
“I thought of myself as a single guy who happened to be mayor,” Newsom wrote. “Had my head been on straight, I would have seen it was the other way around.”
While Newsom opens up about Guilfoyle and the affair, he notably avoids detailing some other relationships.
One such omission involves Brittanie Mountz, a 19-year-old model and college lacrosse player he briefly dated when he was 38. Newsom brushed off that relationship, telling the Times the two “only went on a few dates.”
The memoir also touches on his relationship with actress Sofia Milos of “The Sopranos” and “CSI”.
Newsom writes that he ended that romance at the urging of oil magnate Gordon Getty, who told him she “wasn’t suited to him.”
As Newsom’s second and final term as governor approaches its end — and with a potential 2028 presidential run looming — the memoir offers a glimpse into the personal missteps he says shaped the man behind the politics.
