Michael Portillo's love life - 'affair' with fan to 'hypocritical' relationship
Politician turned broadcaster Michael Portillo tends to keep his private life out of the limelight, but his romances have made plenty of headlines over the years.
The 70-year-old, has been married to wife Carolyn Eadie for more than 40 years, but seldom comments on his lengthy marriage or home life. In 2022, Michael offered a rare insight into his married life during an interview with the Daily Express, revealing that they'd recently purchased a 'lovely house near Seville' in Andalucia, but little is known about their relationship.
As fans settle in to watch Michael's Channel 5 documentary Coastal Devon & Cornwall with Michael Portillo, we take a look at the keen travel buff's often colourful love life.
'Homosexual experiences'
Michael has been married to wife Carolyn for more than 40 years (PA)In 1999, Michael opened up about having had 'some homosexual experiences' as a young man, following years of speculation about his sexuality. During an interview with The Times, Michael revealed: "I will say what I want to say. I had some homosexual experiences as a young person."
According to Michael, these experiences happened 'a generation ago', while he was still a young history student at Cambridge University. Speaking outside his London home at the time, Michael said: "I am now happily married. That is behind me now. I want to make it perfectly clear that all the time I have been in public life there has been nothing of this sort whatsoever. When the interviewer asked me if I had ever had any experiences at university I said yes."
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Stating that he had been 'dogged by vicious rumours', Michael continued: "I was keen to put to rest the rumours that had been circulating about me and I cannot really believe that what happened a generation ago could be big news. I do not think it was a particularly big burden and I do not have any regrets. The truth is a good thing."
Following this admission, Nigel Hart, who claims to have had an intermittent eight-year affair with Michael back in the 1970s, accused the then-MP of 'being somewhat economical with the actualité'. Nigel, who reportedly met Michael in 1971, stated that their affair ended after Michael decided to marry, and hit back at Michael's framing of his sexuality in the context of youthful experimentation.
Speaking with The Guardian, Nigel argued: "When Michael came out in the [half-hearted] fashion ... he tried to pave his way to power by a cowardly and misleadingly meagre version of what actually happened." According to Nigel, he wrote to Michael in 1994 to accuse him of hypocrisy after he voted against lowering the age of consent for gay sex to 16, which would have equalised it with sex between heterosexual couples.
'Affair' with agorophobic fan
Rachel claims she and Michael slept together after striking up a friendship
Michael denied that such an affair had taken place (Getty Images)In 2005, a woman named Rachel Johnston claimed she'd had an affair with Michael, back when he was defence secretary for the Conservative Party. The pair found themselves embroiled in scandal at the time after they were photographed slipping into each other's rooms at the Ramada Hotel Belfast. Michael denied they slept together, while Rachel said they did but just the once.
Speaking exclusively with the Mirror, Rachel, then a presenter on Belfast's Downtown radio admitted that she'd 'fancied' Michael when she wrote to him as a student in 1996. These letters allegedly grew into 'a very supportive friendship', with Rachel confiding in Michael about her agoraphobia. In a separate interview with The Belfast Telegraph, Rachel opened up about her battle with agoraphobia, which coincided with her developing romantic feelings for Michael. She recalled "It's true that in the early 1990s I did have a correspondence with Michael. I was cooped up indoors, unable to go outside, and I'd started to do an A level in English literature to pass the time. Being honest about it, I fancied Michael and I wrote to him saying that as part of my studies I had to do a profile of a public figure."
Speaking shortly after their hotel meeting made headlines, she continued: "I asked him whether he would send me some photos of himself and also give me some information about a political career. I got a very formal letter back from him, but then we started to correspond on a more regular basis. Before I knew it he was starting to call me up and we began to really get to know each other very well. But it wasn't a sexual relationship."
According to Rachel, she eventually broke off their friendship after meeting Samuel Gill, who she went on to have two children with. After Samuel's tragic suicide in 2004, she decided to send Michael an email. Rachel said: "He was somebody to talk to ... our friendship just sparked from there. [...] We speak every day and he has been very supportive. I'm still fond of Michael but I don't feel good about becoming involved with a married man and I deeply regret it."
You can catch Coastal Devon & Cornwall with Michael Portillo, 7:55pm, January 19, on Channel 5
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