Berlusconi’s 28-year-old girlfriend: I courted him

In this July 30, 2013 photo, Francesca Pascale, the girlfriend of Italian former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, strolls near his residence in Rome. In an interview published Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013, in the Italian edition of Vanity Fair, Pascale, 28, described two years of pain and jealousy as Berlusconi, 76, responded to the failure of his second marriage by throwing lavish parties for young women. She says she courted the 76-year-old former premier relentlessly until he finally surrendered. AP

ROME — Silvio Berlusconi’s 28-year-old girlfriend says she courted the 76-year-old former premier relentlessly until he finally surrendered.

In an interview published Wednesday in the Italian edition of Vanity Fair, Francesca Pascale described two years of pain and jealousy as Berlusconi responded to the failure of his second marriage by throwing lavish parties for young women.

His relationship with a 17-year-old guest at the “bunga bunga” parties eventually got him convicted of paying for sex with a minor and pressuring public officials to cover it up. Both he and the woman deny having sex.

Pascale said she met “B” in 2006 while working for his political party and professed her love for him in 2009. She said he initially rejected her as too young.