Larry King admits “age difference” caused a rift between himself and his ex-wife Shawn Southwick King

Larry - who has sons Chance, 20, and Cannon, 19, with Shawn - blames their 16-year age gap for the “issues” between them, as well as their differing religious beliefs.

He explained: “I’m sorry about the marriage. I’ll always care for my wife. But it just hit a point where we didn’t get along.

“We had a big age difference and that eventually takes its toll. It became an issue. Also, [Shawn] is a very religious Mormon and I’m an agnostic atheist, so that eventually causes little problems. We overcame a lot, but eventually it became a ships passing in the night situation.”

The ‘Larry King Live' star “wanted to be happy”, and after a series of “moments of unhappiness”, he decided the best course of action would be to legally split from Shawn.

But Larry - who is also father to 58-year-old Larry Jr. and 51-year-old Chaia - insists he wishes her “nothing but the best” for the future.

Speaking to People magazine, he added: “I thought a lot about what I wanted the rest of my life to be. When there are moments of unhappiness in a marriage, you can overcome it at 40, but at my age, it became a lot. I wanted to be happy. Separating was of course difficult. But there is nothing worse than arguing.

“I wish her nothing but the best. We love each other.”

Larry filed documents to terminate his marriage to Shawn in August last year, and it was claimed shortly afterward that Shawn had been blindsided by the news.

Sources said at the time that the 'Christmas Eve' actress had no idea Larry was planning to file for divorce, and she only found out when she received a call from one of TMZ’s reporters.