Rielle Hunter, John Edwards" baby mama, says she and the disgraced politician still "love each other" and were dating … last year.
"We were together for nine years … We still love each other. We"re not together, but we still love each other," she told Steve Harvey.
The relationship was believed to have ended in 2012, but Hunter said the infamous couple actually dated until February of last year.
Their daughter, Frances Quinn, is 8 now.
Hunter, 51, called Edwards "a great dad," and said the former Democratic V.P. candidate sees his daughter "as often as he can."
Their affair began in 2006, when John was still married to his now-late wife Elizabeth and seeking his party"s 2008 nomination.
Hunter, a filmmaker, had been hired to work for his presidential campaign, only to tarnish his reputation with an absolutely epic scandal.
The National Enquirer exposed the affair in 2007, but Edwards soldiered on, calling the accusations "ridiculous" and "tabloid trash."
He eventually acknowledged the fling in 2008, as his wife voiced support, but denied that he was the father of Rielle Hunter"s daughter.
An aide to the former U.S. Senator, Andrew Young, claimed to be the child"s father, a ploy Hunter now says she found totally "insane.”
"I was afraid that my daughter, who was unborn at that time, would not have a dad," Hunter said, but "I didn"t want to hurt anybody."
"It was in the middle of a campaign," the mistress admits, "and I didn"t want to be the one to bring down an entire campaign."
John finally came clean about fathering Frances Quinn in 2010; Elizabeth Edwards left him as the scandal intensified, then died of cancer.
Edwards faced a trial in 2012 over alleged campaign finance violations pertaining to his affair, but escaped jail because of a hung jury.
After the trial, Hunter trashed Elizabeth Edwards in a book, What Really Happened, calling her dead love rival a "witch on wheels."
Hunter went on to apologize for her statements and actions in a follow-up to the book, adding that she had been selfish in her behavior.
"I really, truly did not mean to hurt anybody, and I wasn"t thinking of anybody but myself. And I was absolutely wrong … absolutely."
