Pablo Escobar‘s lover has revealed secrets of their five-year affair, including that he won her over with his “sweet and cheesy words.”
Virginia Vallejo said she has no regrets about her extramarital fling with the Colombian drug lord, shot dead by the police in 1993, aged 44.
The former model and TV presenter said: “I never regret having loved a man, never.
READ MORE: Swimmers slammed for chasing protected whales
“Not any of my husbands, who were horrible, or Pablo, who became a monster.”
The 76-year-old, who became a star in her home country in the 1970s and 80s, said: “I was the first female news anchor in Colombia.
“The first woman to get married in a civil ceremony, and the first ‘well-off girl’ to officially get divorced.
“I was the first to do a lot of things and the first to mess with a criminal.
“That’s why my life is so interesting.”
Virginia is releasing a new book about her romance with Escobar, as reported by Need To Know.
She first wrote about the drug lord in the book ‘Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar’ in 2007, but has now revealed even more secrets about their five-year fling.
Talking from her apartment in Miami, where she lives in exile after testifying against several of Escobar’s associates, she said she regrets not taking advantage of his fortune.
“He told me, ‘Ask for whatever you want,’ and I said, ‘I don’t want anything, Pablo,’ like an idiot.
“That’s one of my regrets in life, I should have asked him for everything!”
Virginia first met Escobar in 1982 at his Hacienda Nápoles estate in Medellín.
At the time, she was in a relationship with Aníbal Turbay, nephew of President Julio César Turbay.
She said she was on a river trip when a whirlwind swept her away, and the drug lord saved her life.
They started an intimate relationship six months later.
She said: “I didn’t conquer Pablo; Pablo conquered me.”
“I knew he was married, and we agreed that our relationship would be completely secret.
“We always met alone, usually at the Hacienda, in his apartment, a penthouse.”
She said she didn’t care that he was a “cocaine kingpin” or “what he did with his money” because “he planned to supposedly lift Medellín out of poverty”.
Virginia said Escobar was also key to her getting a divorce from her second husband, Argentine producer David Stevel, after allegedly threatening him.
He then sent her a thousand orchids and paid off all her debts.
“Does everything I’m telling you about Pablo seem like a load of rubbish?” she said, “he saved my life, cancelled my debts, sent me a thousand orchids, and divorced me from a b*stard.”
She explained: “I was never Pablo Escobar’s lover; I was one of his lovers, and he was one of my lovers.
“We had a relationship on equal terms.”
She said he would call her his “little panther” and then, towards the end of their relationship, his “clean soul”.
Virginia added that he won her over with his “sweet and cheesy words”.
According to her, Escobar only ever tried cocaine once and didn’t like it.
He was also not a fan of alcohol, but he did have one vice.
She said: “Over time, Pablo did become addicted to marijuana.”
Virginia also said that she will never return to her home country after seeking asylum in the US.
The protected witness stated: “I will never return to Colombia, I don’t miss anything.”
READ MORE: Opera singer sings ‘Marriage of Figaro’ while having brain tumour removed
