Dame Joan Collins slams 'naive' son's claims his father 'was a paedophile'

Dame Joan Collins has attempted to set the record straight on her son Sacha Newley’s claims that his father, Anthony Newley, was a paedophile.

Sacha, 52, stunned Joan’s fans when he spoke out against his dad ahead of the release of his memoir.

Speaking to The Times, Sacha said: “He was a paedophile. My father was drawn to youthfulness.

“He thought innocence was an aphrodisiac. That was his sexual proclivity, and it’s a very dangerous, destructive thing.”

Joan has blasted her son as being “naive”, defending Anthony during an appearance on Good Morning Britain earlier today.

She explained: “I think that Sacha’s being extremely naive and not really knowing the meaning of that word.

“Because what Tony admittedly was, he loved young women. Young women of 17, 18, 19 years old, not children by any means.

“Never in a million years I would be married to somebody like that.”

She added: “It’s categorically not true. I never saw any of that kind of behaviour from Anthony.”

Joan’s daughter Tara previously vehemently denied her brother’s claims against their late father, saying at the time: “I was shocked by my brother’s comments. From my end, I don’t recognise the man he is describing.

“I had an incredibly close relationship with my father and am deeply upset by these false allegations.”

Sacha did not ever give any suggestion that his dad acted inappropriately with him, although he did accuse him of “putting sex front and centre” of his life – claiming that he was exposed to an “adult world” at a young age.

Anthony was married to Joan between 1963 and 1971, with the actor and singer passing away from cancer in 1999 at the age of 67.

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