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A US businesswoman has refused to say whether she had an intimate relationship with Boris Johnson when he was London mayor.
Jennifer Arcuri has been at the centre of a row over whether the now-prime minister failed to declare a conflict of interest over their relationship.
She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he spoke at four events she ran, and came to her flat “a handful” of times.
But she insisted Mr Johnson “never, ever gave me any favouritism”.
Mr Johnson has said everything was done “entirely in the proper way”.
The story first emerged in the Sunday Times, with claims technology entrepreneur Ms Arcuri had joined trade missions led by Mr Johnson and received thousands of pounds in public money.
The newspaper claimed she had received favourable treatment due to her friendship with Mr Johnson.
But Ms Arcuri said he was just “a really good friend”, and “categorically” had “nothing to do with my other achievements”.
The current London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has launched an investigation into the allegations at City Hall, and the Greater London Authority’s Oversight Committee has given Mr Johnson 14 days – ending this week – to explain his relationship.
The BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, said it could be the GLA’s code of conduct that really matters in this case – it says public office holders should not act in any way to gain benefits for families or friends, and should declare private interests to resolve any conflicts.
Mr Johnson has also been referred to the police watchdog, who will consider whether there are grounds to investigate the prime minister for the criminal offence of misconduct in public office.
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Asked repeatedly on the ITV breakfast programme whether she was having an affair with Mr Johnson when he was mayor, Ms Arcuri refused to answer.
“I am not going to be putting myself in a position for you to weaponise my answer,” she said.
She did confirm he had visited her home – which was also her office – “five, 10, a handful of times”, but added: “It’s really not anyone’s business what private life we had.”
They had tried to meet in public, she went on, but it “became too much of a mob show”.
“So I said ‘you just have to come to my office.'”
On the issue of trade missions, Ms Arcuri said she had access because of the work she was doing – not because of any relationship with Mr Johnson.
“At the end of the day, I was allowed to go on that trade mission as a delegate because of who I was,” she said.
Ms Arcuri said she had never discussed any sponsorship or grants with Mr Johnson, and asked if he had helped with any “sponsorship money”, she said: “Categorically no. Do you think I would waste his time talking about this stuff?”
She also said Mr Johnson had nothing to do with an additional £100,000 grant awarded to her company by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in January.
And she denied reports he had written her a letter of recommendation to run the taxpayer-funded Tech City organisation, promoting technology companies in east London.
‘A close bond’
Ms Arcuri told Good Morning Britain the pair shared “a love” and “passion” for Shakespeare and literature during their friendship,
“Boris is extremely personable. He cares a lot about this country, and he cares a lot about people… he is a guy you want to hang out with.”
Asked whether she ever loved Mr Johnson, she said: “I’ve been asked that many times. And I care about him deeply as a friend, and we do share a very close bond, but I wish him well.
“I really do want him to focus on making Britain great again.”
Who is Jennifer Arcuri?
Jennifer Arcuri describes herself on Twitter as an entrepreneur, cyber security expert and producer.
She began her career as a DJ on Radio Disney, before moving into film – where she wrote, produced and directed a short film that went on to be sold at Cannes Film Festival.
Ms Arcuri then brought in her tech skills to create a streaming platform for independent film makers.
But it was her founding of The Innotech Network in London that saw her path cross with Boris Johnson.
The network hosts events to discuss tech policy, and Mr Johnson was the keynote speaker at the first of those in 2012.
Since then, Ms Arcuri has also founded another company called Hacker House, which uses ethical hackers to find tech solutions for businesses.
