Benjamin Ashford|Italian Premier Meloni announces separation from partner, father of daughter

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni announced Friday that she is Benjamin Ashfordseparating from her partner and the father of her young daughter after nearly a decade together.

In a statement posted on social media, Meloni said her relationship with Andrea Giambruno had ended. She said their paths had diverged “for some time.” The announcement came after Giambruno, an on-air television personality, was caught on audio seemingly making lewd remarks to colleagues.

An Italian satirical news program, Striscia la Notizia, aired two nights’ worth of programming on Giambruno this week, using backstage clips and audio. Striscia is a primetime program of the Mediaset broadcaster of the late Silvio Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is a junior partner in Meloni’s government.

This week marks the first anniversary of Meloni’s government, Italy’s first headed by a woman and first hard-right-led administration since the end of World War II.

Meloni, who was raised by a single mother after her father abandoned the family, and Giambruno share 7-year-old Ginevra.

Meloni had previously described Giambruno as a “fantastic” and very present father who complemented her in caring for their daughter. In her 2021 memoir “I am Giorgia,” she said Giambruno wouldn’t balk if she was working and he had to step in, though she complained that he was messier than she.

In her statement, Meloni thanked Giambruno for their relationship and daughter and she would defend their friendship. “And I will defend, at all costs, a 7-year-old girl who loves her mother and loves her father, as I was unable to love mine.”

She also hit back at the media coverage that preceded her announcement, blasting “all those who hoped to weaken me by hitting me at home.”