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Marla Maples’s affair with Donald Trump came to light 33 years ago, but she views it much differently than the public or his then-wife Ivana Trump probably did. A resurfaced podcast interview from 2018 sheds light on how Maples framed that controversial chapter of her life.
It’s pretty hard to get around the fact that Donald Trump was a married man at the time, but Maples said on the ABC News podcast, Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris, that she “never considered” herself “a mistress.” She added, “I mean, that’s the truth.” She believed that this was the plan for her life — to marry him — and that revelation might astonish some people.
“It was literally like, ‘Here’s my plan, and this is who you are.’ And my parents were told that ‘I’m going to marry your daughter one day,’” Maples shared. “Every step of the way, I was praying, ‘God, please be in this. Please be in this. I do not want to be part of breaking anything up that has a chance.’” That sentiment might feel a bit callous and cold toward Ivana, who thought she was in a happy marriage with Donald Trump at the time.
Maples has some regrets about the damage that was done. “Do I wish more than anything that we could have had this relationship after the divorce papers were signed? Absolutely. With all my heart,” she noted. “How much heartache would it have saved so many people if I had seen that piece of paper before we got involved?”
Ivana, who passed away in 2022, never forgave Maples for tearing apart her family. In her 2017 Raising Trump memoir, Ivana ranted, “She actively participated in humiliating me in the media and indirectly put my kids at risk for months. I went through hell, and then I was expected to be okay with her being around my children?” Ivana may have never forgiven Maples and her friends believe she never got over the sadness of Donald Trump leaving her for another woman.
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity couples who have stayed together after cheating scandals.
