"I don’t know who you think I am, you dragged me in mud. Do I look like a tart?"
Domnica Cemortan, the 25-year-old Moldovan on board the Costa Concordia has unleashed her anger over claims she was having an affair with disgraced captain Francesco Schettino, in an interview with Oggi magazine.
The blonde "mystery woman" categorically denied her relationship with the Captain, saying: "I never told the judges 'I love Schettino'.
"I want to know how this kind of information was released. They said they found my bikini in Schettino’s cabin.
"But where was my luggage then? (...) How could they build a story basing themselves on a bikini? Why would this bikini be mine? Was there my name, my picture or my DNA on it?"
Responding to the latest gossip suggesting that Schettino was the father of her two-year-old daughter, Domnica replied: "What do you want me to say? Yes or no? Schettino has black hair. My daughter is blonde."
The young woman also revealed her disgust at the Italian media for calling her 'the Captain’s blonde', 'the Concordia’s mermaid', 'the mysterious woman' and blamed the press for ruining her life. Not only in Italy, but also in Moldova.
"Moldovans say that I am staining the image of my country and my people. This is becoming a political question."
She told the magazine about the sacrifices she made to be able to study and educate herself.
"Just so you know, I speak five languages, I obtained high level diplomas in my country and abroad."
"I was the best student in my class, and all this for what? To be dragged in mud by journalists? I can’t look at my neighbours in the eye, I am ashamed to go in shops."
Meanwhile, Schettino is still under house arrest but said he is feeling ‘calm’ and ready to confront the judiciary battles ahead.
However the Public Prosecutor’s Office has said in its latest statement: