Steve Slater's ex-wife Cynthia Susanne told The Today Show Thursday that her ex-hubby’s a "consummate flight attendant" and a "stellar individual and a gentleman" who must have been provoked after a testy run-in with a rude passenger, to curse over the plane's PA system, activate an emergency slide, grab a beer and slide off the plane.

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Susanne was high school sweethearts with Slater -- the JetBlue fight attendant whose meltdown has become the talk of the country -- and their marriage lasted less than a year.

VIDEO: JetBlue Flight Attendant "A Little Overwhelmed" By All The Attention

After a passenger told the NBC show in a phone interview that  Slater  had been grouchy while tending to passengers on Monday's flight, Susanne said that as well as she knows the 38-year-old New Yorker, she does "not believe that he was rude to anyone.”

Asked about the reports that Slater is a recovering alcoholic, Susanne said she doesn't "believe Steven to have a problem with alcohol or substance abuse ... he handled it beautifully if that's the case. Like I said, he's just such a great, fantastic person.”