Real Talk

Rielle Hunter: I’ve Been Unfairly Judged

Tells Oprah she helped Edwards “live a life of truth.”

Rielle Hunter says she never sought out former presidential candidate John Edwards—she just happened to see an attractive man at a hotel and, yes, told him he was “so hot,” but also that she could help him “be more authentic and live a life of truth." Edwards invited her to his hotel room, Hunter told Oprah Winfrey in an interview on Thursday, and told her about his years-long marital problems. The affair stopped in 2006, after Elizabeth Edwards used the secret phone her husband bought to call his mistress, and contacted Hunter. The romance picked back up again during the presidential campaign. "I followed my heart and I believe it was the right thing to do," Hunter says. "Which is weird, I realize how weird that is. But I didn’t make a commitment to Elizabeth. I wasn’t the one lying to her. I was supporting him in his decisions. I knew he had a unique way of getting to his life of truth.” Hunter says that the politician knew she was pregnant when he renewed his vows with his wife, and that Elizabeth pushed for Edwards’ disastrous TV interview denying paternity, because Elizabeth didn’t know the truth. Hunter says she prefers to keep her current relationship with Edwards private.