My wife's affair has left me desolate
Peter Robinson "temporarily" resigned as Northern Ireland's first minister on Monday, announcing that he was fighting to clear his name of charges that he had failed to alert watchdogs when his wife broke parliamentary rules to help her teenage lover.
In an interview with The Belfast Telegraph, the 61-year-old politician said that coping with his wife's affair with 19-year-old Kirk McCambley had left him desolate and struggling to face the world.
"There are days when, were it not a case of getting up and getting on with things for the sake of the family, your instinct would be just to get into bed and pull yourself into a foetal position," he revealed.
Iris Robinson, 60, has admitted procuring £50,000 of loans for McCambley, now 21, to establish a cafe in Belfast and keeping £5,000 herself - without declaring the money. She has now stepped down as an MP for the Democratic Unionist party and is receiving "acute psychiatric treatment".
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The family was nicknamed the "swish Family Robinson" after she gave a journalist a tour of the family home, featuring a French bedroom, a Tuscan bathroom and an oriental dining room. "Peter has more than 1,000 ties and I have as many bras," Iris told the journalist.
"I don't think there has been any period of my life that has been more difficult," said Robinson. "If anyone in the world has got a reason to be angry at Iris and hurt by what she has done, I think I have."
As for reports that his wife had taken other lovers, Robinson had this to say: "I am asking these journalists on the basis of common humanity to give me their evidence," he said. "I told Iris that I would attempt to repair and to continue with our marriage provided that she told me everything and that there were no secrets between us. Now I have seen these accusations, so I'm saying to these journalists, show me your proof. Because I have decisions to make about my life, too."
Highlighting his wife's battle with mental illness, Robinson urged people not to judge "someone who is not in a fit state to be judged". He added: "I honestly believe she would have been treated better had she been a serial killer."
Brando seduced me, says Jackie
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Jackie Collins has revealed that she had a fling with Marlon Brando at the age of 15. The best-selling author and actress told of her affair with the screen legend, who was 29 when she met him. Speaking to the American magazine Globe she said, "We had a very brief but fabulous affair. He was at the height of his fame and gorgeous."
Collins said she didn't hesitate when given the opportunity to meet the actor at a Hollywood party. "He sent someone over to me to say, 'Marlon thinks you're great-looking and have a great body and would like to meet you'." She also revealed that when she was 14 she "had the figure of a 19-year-old, and I liked boys. I lived in a basement flat so I was out of the window every night. I put bolsters in the bed so that it looked as if I was there".
Top cop can't shop (allegedly)
Peter Vaughan, 46, the newly appointed chief constable of south Wales raised eyebrows when he told Police Review magazine that he would no longer be able to do his own shopping "for security reasons".
"There are additional pressures now that I am a chief constable," he said. "I used to be able to walk around my supermarket but now someone else will do my shopping for security reasons." He added that he would miss getting his own groceries: "It sounds strange but I like going for a walk."
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Vaughan, a former beat policeman in the Rhondda valley, who took up his £144,500 a year post on January 1, denied making the remarks but the magazine is standing by the accuracy of its report.