Letterman putting life together

NEW YORK: David Letterman says the scandal surrounding his workplace dalliances "knocked him down" but he's now putting the pieces of his life back together.

During a guest slot on TV talk show Live! With Regis and Kelly yesterday, the late-night television star said his behaviour was stupid and reckless, and that it hurt his family and him. But he sounded hopeful that life with his wife and son could "even be better, in a different way" than before the revelations that he had had sex with his Late Show co-workers.

"You wake up every morning and you're scared and you're depressed and sad. And you kind of got to let that knock you down and knock you down, and then pretty soon you've got to start knocking IT down. And then, when that happens, you start looking at the pieces left of your life," he said.

Co-host Regis Philbin had asked Letterman: "How's everything at home?" Letterman replied, deadpan, "I don't know if people know about this, but I've had some trouble."

Letterman made no reference to the US$2 million blackmail attempt to expose his sex life that spurred him to reveal the affairs during an extraordinary monologue on his show last October.

He also made no specific mention of his wife, Regina Lasko, whom he married last year. They began dating in 1986 and have a 6-year-old son.

The man who pleaded guilty to the blackmail attempt against Letterman, Robert Halderman, is scheduled to be sentenced next week.