Patersons Tell Daily News of ‘Rocky’ Time in Marriage

MYFOXNY.COM  –  Newly inaugurated Gov. David Paterson has admitted to having a long-term extra-marital affair, according to a report on the Daily News Web site.

The man who replaced fidelity-challenged Eliot Spitzer, who allegedly frequented prostitutes, made the stunning revelation in a series of interviews with the Daily News over the weekend and after Paterson’s historic inauguration Monday.

Paterson and his wife, Michelle, said that they both carried on affairs during a rocky time in their marriage in the late 1990s.

“This was a marriage that appeared to be going sour at one point,” Paterson is quoted in the Daily News article. “But I went to counseling and we decided we wanted to make it work. Michelle is well aware of what went on.”

Paterson said his relationship with the other woman lasted from 199 to 2001, according to the report.

Michelle Paterson confirmed the governor’s story in an interview Monday.

“Like most marriages, you go through certain difficult periods,” Michelle Paterson told the newspaper. “What’s important is for your kids to see you worked them out.”

The Daily News reports that the Patersons agreed to speak publicly about the marriage and the affairs in response to rumors about the governor’s personal life that had been circulating in Albany in recent days.