Rielle Hunter tells all to GQ, is somewhat delusional

The woman at the center of the John Edwards-secret child saga, Rielle Hunter, has spoken out about her relationship with “Johnny” to GQ Magazine.

The interview is available in its entirety online, a full ten pages of back and forth text between Hunter and GQ writer Lisa DePaulo. Hunter invited DePaulo to “sleep over” during the course of the interview, and the reporter stayed the night with Hunter and her daughter Quinn in their modest, rented home. (Hunter is adamant Edwards has not ever purchased a home for her, contrary to many rumors. She does concede that he and his wife wanted to rent a place to her, but that she was unable to afford it.)

Hunter says the two slept together the first night they met, after meeting on the street in Manhattan. (The corner of 61st and Park Avenue.) Hunter expresses distaste for the motivations of Andrew Young in the whole saga, claiming the staffer loved John Edwards more than his own wife, Cheri.

One of the most alarming themes in the interview is Hunter’s inability to take off the “other woman” blinders and see her shoddy treatment (and the disrespect to Edwards’ cancer stricken wife Elizabeth Edwards) for what it truly is. Below is an excerpt between DePaulo and Hunter on some of Edwards’ public statements about his infidelity:

And wasn’t that when he was asked if he loved you and he responded by saying there was only one woman he ever loved, Elizabeth?

I believe so. Yeah. I mean, it was very painful. Because I had this thing in my head like a lot of women, where you want your man to stand up on a cliff and scream, “I LOVE HER.” You know, the knight in shining armor. And that wasn’t what was going on.

Did he call you after the interview?

Yes. And I said, “Ouch, that hurt.” And he said, “I’m sorry.” And “It doesn’t mean anything.” And it didn’t. I know he loves me. I have never had any doubt at all about that. We love each other very much. And that hasn’t changed, and I believe that will be till death do us part. The love doesn’t go away. It’s unconditional. It’s unconditional on my part, but our connection is profound. There’s a lot of passion there.

Hunter goes on to be as forgiving when pressed on the matter of Edwards repeatedly and vehemently denying the paternity of her daughter, Quinn:

Like when he said on national television that it was impossible that he was the father?

Correct. But I also knew when he did that interview he was not in the right mind. He was traumatized. Because he had been living a life that was now exposed. And he does, you know, traumatic things when that door opens. Like Mark Sanford. A hidden life, when it is exposed, is a traumatic event for the person going through it. And they’re not in their right mind. Anyone going through that should never speak publicly. And what they say, if they do speak publicly, should be forgiven.

Hunter also falls into a major other woman trap here:

Do you feel bad for her at all?

Oh, my God, I have such compassion for her. I really do. I mean, especially when you have terminal cancer… I watched my father die of cancer. It’s heart-wrenching to me. But it’s also sad to me, her unwillingness to take responsibility for her part in the marriage. And her unwillingness to face the truth. We’re all slaves to our unconscious, but she really believes that it’s everyone else’s fault. And that’s heart-wrenching to me, too.

And then here. Ouch:

What was he upset about?

He was upset that I had come to Chapel Hill. On the announcement tour [in her capacity as campaign videographer]. Because he thought it was a bad idea for Elizabeth to see me. Because if she saw me, she would suspect what was happening.

And she did.

And she did. And so he was upset with me. And she came into the room or he heard her coming, so he hung up the phone abruptly. And left the phones there, together. And he told me that the next morning, Elizabeth was, you know, thinking, “What was he doing up there? I’ll bet he was talking on the phone to her.” So she called his cell phone and heard it ringing and went looking for his cell phone. And found the other phone, our phone, next to his cell phone. And picked up the phone and called me. Because the last number dialed…

I see.

And I answered the phone and said, “Hey, baby.” And, click.

There’s an addendum to the interview that’s web-only, available here.