Love Cheat Jesse James is attempting to play down the fact he broke Sandra Bullock's heart and rocked her world by stating many husbands have affairs.
In a new interview with Men’s Journal magazine, the TV mechanic is defiant about his infidelity, insisting it's time for the media to give him a break as he plans to wed fiancee Kat Von D.
She (Bullock) told me before that she forgives me... but there's probably people now that I'm closer to than I ever was to her
James tells the publication he was "never 100 per cent" into his marriage to Bullock, adding, "I never shied away from anything I did. I took full responsibility. I cheated on my wife. Guess what? So do millions of other men."
James uses the article to explain his reasons for checking into rehab in the months following his split from the actress, revealing he had an anger management issue he needed to fix.
He adds, "I went in thinking, 'All these people in this place? They are really f**ked up.' I figured out pretty fast I was the f**ked-up one. I realised I was addicted to anger, and it was going to be up to me to straighten my s**t out."
James though is now confident he will never cheat on fiancee Kat Von D like he did on Bullock, because their love is on a "higher level" as they were friends before becoming a couple.
The TV mechanic's marriage to The Blind Side star fell apart in March 2010 when his infidelities were exposed in a U.S. tabloid, just days after she thanked him for "having her back" during her Best Actress Oscar acceptance speech.
James, who is now set to wed celebrity tattoo artist Von D, accepts he is "100 per cent to blame" for the heartbreaking betrayal, but he's adamant his new wife-to-be will never have to worry about his infidelities.
He tells CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, "I'm 100 per cent to blame, I take full accountability for my actions, you know, no one forced me to do what I did.
"She (Bullock) told me before that she forgives me... but there's probably people now that I'm closer to than I ever was to her."
When asked if he was referring to his current fiancee Von D, he replies, "I think so. I think I took a look at the things I never wanted to look at before. With Kat, I have a partner and we're connected on a higher level."
And James believes he treated Bullock badly because his ego had become so inflated after landing a huge movie star as a wife.
He adds, "That's what I need to ask, was it (relationship with Bullock) me trying to be a bigshot, was it just my ego? Like, 'I'm Jesse James, I'm a bad motherf**ker and I can have a movie star for a wife.' I think a lot of that was, it was my ego and that's why I hurt her and why I didn't just leave the relationship when I should have, because my ego said I need this wife so I'm cool or so people like me or whatever. The bad recipe for anything - I think you should follow your heart and what's right for you and like Kat, we were friends for a long time, and had mutual respect, and I think that was the problem, I don't think me and Sandy were ever really friends. We met and went straight into marriage and that was that."
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