Rielle Hunter said when she went to John Edwards' hotel room, the night their affair began, she was planning to help him be more authentic.
"He wanted help, he wanted to be more authentic, he wanted to life a life of truth," Hunter told Oprah Winfrey in an interview on her television show.
The two had a series of deep telephone conversations after that night and Hunter said she had fallen in love with him.
Hunter said Edwards had misgivings about running for president. Hunter said he was addicted to campaigning and that his staff and his wife, Elizabeth Edwards pushed him into running. Hunter said she didn't believe he should have run.
"I think you should live a life of integrity before you step out into the public," Hunter said, a statement that prompted Winfrey to ask Hunter if she thought being Edwards' mistress was a life of integrity. Hunter said her actions didn't conflict with her beliefs about living honestly.
"No," Hunter said. "I followed my heart and that was the right thing to do, which is weird, I get how weird that is. I wasn't the one who made a commitment to Elizabeth."
Hunter said she never used birth control with Edwards.
Hunter said it was Andrew Young's idea, not Edwards', to have Young claim paternity of Hunter's child.
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