Elizabeth Edwards: Oprah Asks, "Are You Still In Love With Him?"
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CHICAGO — Elizabeth Edwards says that whether she still is in love with her husband, former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John Edwards, after his admitted affair is a "complicated question."
In an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to air Thursday, Winfrey asked Edwards, "Are you still in love with him?" in an excerpt provided in advance to The Associated Press by Harpo Productions.
Edwards responded, "You know, that's a complicated question."
Winfrey also asked Edwards, "Is it a day-by-day thing?" And Edwards said, "Neither one of us is out the door so I guess it's day by day, but maybe it's month by month."
The talk show host visited the Edwardses at the Chapel Hill, N.C., home where the couple live with their children, Cate, Jack and Emma Claire. Winfrey interviewed Elizabeth Edwards about her relationship with her husband, his affair and her battle with terminal cancer. Besides the TV interview, there will be a companion piece in the June issue of "O" magazine.
A Harpo spokeswoman said the only caveat to the interview was that Winfrey could not mention John Edwards' mistress by name. Winfrey also spoke with John Edwards, though excerpts of his interview were not provided.
Elizabeth Edwards' memoir, "Resilience," is to be published this month.
In the book, Edwards wrote that her husband admitted at the end of 2006 _ soon after launching his second presidential campaign _ that he'd made a mistake with videographer Rielle Hunter on a single night. Edwards said it was more than a year later before she learned it was more than that, according to excerpts released by Time.com.
"More than a year later, I learned that he had allowed (the woman) into our lives and had not, even when he knew better, made her leave us alone," Edwards wrote, according to the excerpts. "I tried to get him to explain, but he did not know himself why he had allowed it to happen."
Edwards said she doesn't want the affair to take over her life, just as she doesn't want her cancer to do the same.
John Edwards went public with the affair in August after the National Enquirer reported he was the father of Hunter's daughter. He has denied paternity.
Elizabeth Edwards addressed that speculation with Winfrey.
"That's what I understand," Edwards said. "I've seen a picture of the baby. I have no idea. It doesn't look like my children, but I don't have any idea."
She also described Hunter as being different from both her and her husband.
"We're basically old-fashioned people," Edwards told "O" magazine. "So, this was a pretty big leap for him. Maybe it's being so different is what was attractive."
Edwards was laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign when he hired Hunter to shoot videos of him. He said the affair with Hunter began and ended that year, although Hunter was seen on the campaign trail until the final days of 2006.
Edwards wrote in her memoir that news of her husband's affair made her cry, scream and throw up in a bathroom. She told Winfrey she had asked her husband for one gift when they were married 31 years ago.
"I wanted him to be faithful to me," Edwards said. "It was enormously important to me."
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The Oprah Winfrey Show: http://www.oprah.com/tows
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05/ 5/09 08:37 PM ET Associated Press