Tristan Thompson has spoken candidly about the reasons behind his repeated infidelity during his relationship with Khloé Kardashian, while appearing on her podcast.
Khloé invited her ex and the US basketball player onto the show for a conversation about co-parenting and the very public controversy they’ve navigated over the years.
Now 35, Thompson has faced multiple allegations of cheating throughout their on-and-off romance, with claims he was unfaithful around three times across their six-year relationship.
Khloé, 41, and Tristan share two children — True, 8, and Tatum, 3 — and despite everything, they appear to be on amicable terms today.
However, their relationship officially ended in 2021 after it emerged Thompson had fathered a child with personal trainer Maralee Nichols. The revelation came just days after the pair’s embryo transfer that ultimately led to the birth of Tatum.
On the podcast, Khloé directly asked Thompson why he kept cheating while they were together.
“Why do you keep doing it?” she asked, a question which he described as a ‘trillion dollar’ one.
As he tried to explain himself, Thompson suggested his life had been moving too fast at the time and that he hadn’t managed things well.
Attempting to answer the brutal question, he said: “Life was moving very quickly for me at the time. I probably didn’t do the best job of navigating where I was at.
“But honestly a little case of like being young and wanting your cake and eating it.
Tristan added: “Not proud of it, of course not, but like you said sometimes we need a wake-up call.”
Khloé also pushed him on how the two of them might address the cheating allegations with their kids when they’re older and able to understand what happened.
He said: “I think it just depends on which age we have this conversation. When I have this conversation with the kids, I think it’s just more leading by just being accountable.
“The most important thing is that, you know, accountability, how much I, you know, love Mommy and go from there.”
The episode also sparked broader discussion about infidelity in long-term relationships. According to the Institute for Family Studies, around 20 percent of married men and 13 percent of married women say they’ve had sex with someone other than their spouse.
Viewers weighed in too, with one commenter writing: “People that cheat do so because they need validation. It’s not about you. It’s about them being desperate.”
Another person suggested: “They do this because they know they can get away with it.”