Rielle Hunter Dishes on John Edwards’ Reaction to Her Pregnancy on 20/20

Rielle Hunter has kind of embodied every “other woman” cliché since she was pegged as the mistress to former rising Democrat star John Edwards and the mother to his child born of their affair.

The relationship between Rielle Hunter and Edwards has been a lightning rod for the former presidential hopeful and running mate of John Kerry. The affair could not have come at a worse time politically for Edwards, whose wife was suffering from the breast cancer that would eventually kill her, in addition to the fact that the anti-poverty crusader had set his eyes on the White House.

Rielle Hunter says that at 43, she was as shocked as anyone to discover she was pregnant with Edwards’ child back in 2007. And as we all now know, Edwards initially denied fathering Hunter’s daughter, Quinn, now 4, after her February 2008 birth.

But ultimately, the truth came out, and John Edwards was indicted for allegedly using campaign funds to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter. But despite the ramifications of having a mistress and love child, Hunter says, Edwards was calm and kind when she announced her ill-timed pregnancy to him.

Hunter explains that she was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement promising to never reveal Quinn’s parentage to anyone save the little girl, yet she refused.

And of the many denials Edwards issued on TV that he had fathered her little girl, Hunter explains:

“What it meant, though, to me, is that he was temporarily insane. I mean, he had really gone off the deep end a bit there,” she said, “but it was painful to witness.”

Rielle Hunter’s candid 20/20 interview airs tonight on ABC.