Boris Johnson’s old friend Jennifer Arcuri has spoken out to accuse him of treating her like a “one-night stand”.
The PM cut contact with the US businesswoman after their dealings were put under the spotlight.
He could still face a misconduct probe over his treatment of her.
Now she has talked of her anger at being made to feel she is “collateral damage” amid the scandal as she “picks up the pieces” all alone.
She has begged him to speak to her and says she is “heartbroken” that he has refused to take her calls.
Ms Arcuri, 34, told Mr Johnson: “I don’t understand why you’ve blocked me and ignored me as if I was some fleeting one-night stand or some girl that you picked up at a bar, because I wasn’t – and you know that.
“And I’m terribly heartbroken by the way that you have cast me aside like I am some gremlin.”
(Image: ITV)
She spoke in an explosive ITV documentary, which for the first time claims openly that she was in a sexual relationship with the PM.
Ms Arcuri refuses to admit that they were lovers but refers to their relationship as an “affair” in the programme, which airs tonight.
The pole-dancing tech entrepreneur’s links with Mr Johnson came under scrutiny following allegations she was given favourable treatment on business ventures during his time as Mayor of London.
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She told of how Mr Johnson, 55, stopped taking her calls – and even passed the phone to an aide who started speaking Chinese when he realised it was her calling recently.
Ms Arcuri claimed she had tried to contact Mr Johnson for advice on how she should handle media interest over the scandal. But he continually refused to engage with her.
She said: “Shame on him for not answering the phone.”
(Image: Reuters)
And she added of her most recent call: “He heard my voice and I knew it was him. And he hung up.
“He said, ‘Yes, hello.’ And I simply asked, ‘Why did you block me?’
“I wasn’t calling to cause problems I merely wanted a simple acknowledgment for what had happened.”
Ms Arcuri landed in London this week for meetings with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Officials there ruled this month that a controversial grant to her Hacker House firm was “appropriate” after half of it was frozen amid claims it was not based in the UK.
(Image: Facebook)
Talking to the ITV team, Ms Arcuri told of anger at Mr Johnson for cutting ties after the row surrounding their relationship blew up.
She said: “It’s caused nothing but utter chaos, destruction and sheer disappointment on many fronts.
“As a result I am the collateral damage that’s left behind. The Prime Minister hasn’t been affected. He puts his head in the sand and looks the other way.
“I’m the one on the ground having to pick up the pieces from my name and my integrity, and my character and my business, you know, all these things that I, you know, never intended to have to explain publicly.”
The ITV show alleges that Ms Arcuri and Mr Johnson were having an affair for more than four years.
She has refused to say if this is true and again would not be drawn on the nature of their relationship in the programme.
(Image: Stan Kujawa)
But she did say she had pressure from friends to “admit the affair”.
Ms Arcuri said: “When the story broke, half the people that reached out told me to categorically deny, deny, deny. The other half told me to admit the, er, affair, fall on the sword get it over with.”
Over the course of their friendship Mr Johnson, as Mayor, wrote to City Hall on nine occasions declaring various personal interests.
But Ms Arcuri’s name did not appear on any of those letters.
An expert said the PM, who was yesterday in Mansfield campaigning for the general election – might have committed a code of conduct breach by not declaring their relationship.
Professor Alan Doig, a former member of the Public Standards Board for England, said: “This would have been something that should have been declared just in terms of common sense and caution.
“It would be a human reaction not to declare it but if you have the relationship and that person then has dealings with the Office of the Mayor and the authority, you should completely detach yourself from those official dealings so people do not misinterpret or take an adverse perception of what’s going on or you declare it.”
Prof Doig added that officials would have advised Mr Johnson not to attend events hosted by Ms Arcuri if aware of their relationship.
He said: “They would have said don’t go. You either make it public or you don’t go.”
A text exchange between Ms Arcuri and Mr Johnson revealed that she called him “Mr Mayor” while he was saved in her contacts as “Alex The Great”.
Mike Butcher, editor-at-large of TechCrunch, said when he asked Ms Arcuri how she managed to secure Mr Johnson’s attendance at one of her events, she said: “I’ve got Boris wrapped around my little finger.”
Asked about the documentary yesterday, a Conservative Party spokesman said: “Any claims of impropriety in office are untrue and unfounded.
“Given that City Hall has made an unfounded complaint to the Independent Office For Police Conduct, we will not be making detailed comments until that process has finished.
“Full assistance has been offered to the IOPC so the matter can be resolved.”
