Former US presidential candidate John Edwards, who last month admitted fathering a daughter with his mistress Rielle Hunter in 2008, has now offered to marry her, reports said Wednesday.
According to the tabloid The National Enquirer which exposed the scandal in October 2007, the mistress who served Edwards' video-grapher during his presidential campaignme has agreed to his proposal. Quoting a source, The Enquirer said, "John has proposed to Rielle (Hunter), and she said yes.''
Fifty-six-year-old Edwards' wife Elizabeth, who is stricken with cancer, separated from him after he admitted adultery last month after denying for more than a year that he fathered Hunter's daughter. The tabloid said the disgraced former senator from North Carolina plans to buy a $3.5 million beachfront luxury home to live with Hunter and their love child Frances Quinn.
The Enquirer quoted its source as saying that "John dropped the proposal bomb on Rielle shortly before he issued his statement'' Jan 21 that he fathered her daughter.
"John knew Rielle had been waiting for a proposal for two long years. Since they have gotten involved, she has followed every order he gave her, going on a cross-country cover-up, hiding away during her pregnancy and after giving birth for the sake of his presidential aspirations,'' the tabloid said.
"Rielle never uttered a peep about their affair publicly, and remained loyal to John. John felt she deserved to know that he wanted to raise their child together, and wanted Rielle in his life as his partner.
"John has said that when his divorce is final, he'll buy her a diamond ring. In the meantime, he is getting them a house,'' said the Enquirer, quoting the source.
Edwards had hired Hunter, then 42, as a video-grapher in 2007 for his campaign to win the Democratic Party nomination for the 2008 presidential elections. The two developed sexual relations even as Edwards's wife reported that her cancer - first reported in 2004 - has relapsed.
When Hunter became pregnant, Edwards tried to hide her away from his campaign. After the birth of their love child, he forced his aide Andrew Young to admit that he fathered the child.
Young has exposed the lies of former boss in his just released book "The Politician.'
