Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni dumps long-time partner over ‘threesome’ comments to TV colleagues
20 October 2023, 12:30
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has announced she is separating from her partner and the father of her young daughter after nearly a decade together.
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The split comes after an Italian television show played a recording of him asking a female colleague for a threesome.
In a statement posted on social media, Ms Meloni said her relationship with Andrea Giambruno had ended.
She said their paths had diverged "for some time".
The announcement came after Mr Giambruno, an on-air television personality, was caught on audio seemingly making lewd remarks to colleagues.
An Italian satirical news programme, Striscia La Notizia (The News Strip), aired two nights' worth of programming on Mr Giambruno this week, using backstage clips and audio.
“You know that I and [name omitted] have a relationship? Everyone in Mediaset knows it. Now you know it too, but we’re looking for a third participant because we do threesomes, even foursomes with [name omitted],” he told a woman.
Striscia is a primetime programme of the Mediaset broadcaster of the late Silvio Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is a junior partner in Ms Meloni's government.
This week marks the first anniversary of Ms Meloni's government, Italy's first headed by a woman and its first hard-right-led administration since the end of the Second World War.
Ms Meloni, who was raised by a single mother after her father abandoned the family, and Mr Giambruno share a seven-year-old daughter, Ginevra.
The Premier had previously described Mr Giambruno as a "fantastic" and very present father who complemented her in caring for their daughter.
In her 2021 memoir I Am Giorgia, she said Mr Giambruno would not balk if she was working and he had to step in, though she complained that he was messier than she was.
In her statement, Ms Meloni thanked Mr Giambruno for their relationship and daughter and said she would defend their friendship.
"And I will defend, at all costs, a seven-year-old girl who loves her mother and loves her father, as I was unable to love mine," she added.
Ms Meloni also hit back at the media coverage that preceded her announcement, blasting "all those who hoped to weaken me by hitting me at home".
