I am popular because Italians want to be me, says Berlusconi

DEFIANT in the face of a sex scandal, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said yesterday he is still popular because Italians secretly want to be like him.

He denied any strains with the Catholic Church and denounced what he called a “subversive campaign” to unseat a democratically elected leader.

Berlusconi’s comments came a day after the woman who unwillingly initiated the scandal – Noemi Letizia, whose 18-year-old birthday party Berlusconi attended – broke her silence. In a TV interview, Letizia described her relations with the man she calls “Daddy”, and her dreams of Hollywood glory.