12/12/2004
........ DeHavilland
Former TV-am presenter Anne Diamond is to dish the dirt on a fling with disgraced former Conservative minister Jonathan Aitken, according to press reports.
In her "warts and all" autobiography, the 50-year old will reveal she had an affair with a married politician.
But Miss Diamond is unlikely to name names directly.
The pair met in 1983 at Midlands-based Central TV where Miss Diamond was working as a journalist.
Press reports claim former husband, Mike Hollingsworth, knew of the affair, which occurred before their marriage, when he visited her flat in Fulham, south west London, one night.
Mr Hollingsworth said in an interview: "I remember going to her flat one night and she said.
"What are you doing here? I'm expecting somebody".
"I asked her who and she said Jonathan Aitken. He was a director at TV-am and he was taking her out to dinner. I said, "You can't be going out with Jonathan".
"She said, "I am. He's outside in the car". As she closed the door she said, "And I don't want you here when we get back"."
Mr Hollingsworth's marriage collapsed in 1998 when he too was having an affair. Adding to matters, the pair suffered the loss of their baby son, Sebastian, to cot death.
Mr Aitken was imprisoned for perjury for 18 months over an unpaid bill at the Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1998.
Yesterday, the 61-year old said: "I may have kissed 25 years ago. But I never tell."
Miss Diamond's autobiography is due out next March and has the working title "Solitaire".
