Lovechild, 42, of Julio Iglesias speaks for first time about desire to meet him after Spanish court ruled pop singer IS his father - despite finding his mother 'collapsed in suicide bid as teenager'
- Javier Santos, 42, is the child of Spanish superstar Julio Iglesias and Portuguese former dancer Maria Edite Santos, a Spanish court has ruled after two years
- Today Santos, a DJ who lives in Italy, spoke of his longing to meet his father
- He said his mother's battle to prove his parentage had led to suicide attempt
The lovechild of Julio Iglesias has spoken of his longing to meet his famous father.
Javier Santos also revealed today he found his mother 'on the floor' following a suicide attempt when he was a teenager, saying her 'reputation was destroyed' by his biological father's 'power and influence' in the media.
It comes as a Spanish court ruled Santos, 42, is the Spanish singer's son despite Iglesias repeatedly refusing to give a DNA sample.
The DJ, who lives in Italy, explained how his mother Maria Edite Santos, a Portuguese former dancer, had been battling for years to prove his paternity since a brief affair with the singer in the 1970s.
Following the conclusion of the two-year case, he told Ben Shehard and Kate Garraway on Good Morning Britain: 'My case is quite unique, my mum started this back in the '90s, 1991. It was very hard for her.
Javier Santos, 42, spoke exclusively to Good Morning Britain today about the court case that ruled his biological father was pop crooner Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias and dancer Maria Edite meet on the Costa Brava. The court ruled Javier was born after his ballet dancer mother Maria (right) had a week-long fling in 1975 with Julio (left)
Share this article
'My father had at the time had so much power and influence in the media and even politics, so my mum's reputation was destroyed.
'She struggled a lot, I saw that, when I was really young, I saw my mum try to take her life.
'I found her on the floor once, when I was really young, I think I was 15 to 16 years old.'
Asked why they had pursued the case, he said: 'We tried to demonstrate the truth... it was very difficult. She lost the case in 1997.
'That's when I left the country, I left Spain and went to other countries and then I came back to Spain. I saw on TV this lawyer… he worked differently. We hired a detective and tried to get DNA.'
They managed to get a DNA sample from a brother. He explained: 'This private detective followed him [brother] in Miami, and then he forgot his bottle of water. It's quite unique.
'We bought it to Spain and we sent the samples to a laboratory and it was a match. We were brothers. That's when we took the case to the court… My case was very difficult because my mum tried to fight for me when I was young.'
Today Santos, a DJ who lives in Italy, spoke of his longing to meet his father Julio Iglesias
Maria and Javier pictured outside court. she said: ‘I cannot describe the happiness we feel after fighting for so many years. For Javier, his whole world has changed.'
Julio Iglesias attends his star unveiling ceremony at the Walk of Fame, in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Marla Edite Santos claims Iglesias that he was her first lover. After the cabaret was over, she says he gave her a pair of jeans to remember him by
Despite the public rejection by his famous father, whom Santos admitted he used to despise, he added he would now like to try and build a relationship.
He confessed: 'To me when I was really young, I used to hate him, I used to hate everything about my family.
'All the damage and hurt that I saw in my mum. But now I grow up, I am married, I'm going to have a son or daughter - I don't know yet - and things change inside of me.
'I just want to meet my father.'
Santos went on to say: 'I kept believing maybe in the future, he gets to know. I only ask for five minutes.'
On claims he's chasing his father's wealth, he explained: 'I always had a humble life, I don't know money, I don't miss money.
'This is the life that belongs to me… what is important to me, there is no money that can pay for my mum's happiness right now. My mum is so happy right now because I demonstrated the truth, so for me it's something worth more than all the money in the world.
'I don't need money, I work, I'm fine. To me that's secondary, it's collateral, that he has money. I believe I'm not going to see any money from him, so I'm fine with that.'
Asked if he was musical, he added: 'I love music, I used to sing. Now I'm a music producer... and a DJ. I've done that for 30 years.'
On whether he would like to work with the singer, he said: 'That would be fantastic.'
