'Bones' Star: 'I'm A Cheating Bastard'

"Bones" actor David Boreanaz is on the cover of People this week with his wife... for a story focused on the fact that he's publicly confessing to cheating, apparently in order to avoid a major scandal.

"Our marriage has been tainted with my infidelities," he says. I just want to be open and honest. I was irresponsible."

But he wasn't just screwing around with the odd extra or random drunk fan -- no, no.

He had a full-blown affair, one that sounds like it carried on for a serious amount of time and may have been one of those Jesse James "oh, you didn't know I was married? Whoops, I forgot to add that legal disclaimer at the bottom of my online dating profile. Sorry?"

[A] former mistress, whom he declines to name, contacted an attorney and threatened to contact media outlets... "I was associated with a woman who I was involved with and had a relationship with," he says. "She asked for money. I felt as though I was being blackmailed or there was some sort of extortion."

Now, with the news of his infidelities out in the open, Boreanaz is getting down to the difficult task of salvaging his relationship with his wife.

"We're working on our marriage," he says. "We're working on repairing what has been damaged so badly." [People]