Seal ‘heidi’s Ex Is A Gentleman’
By WENNThursday, December 10, 2009
SEAL has branded HEIDI KLUM’s ex-boyfriend FLAVIO BRIATORE “a gentleman” for graciously allowing him to adopt the model’s daughter LENI as his own.
The Kiss From a Rose hitmaker began dating the German supermodel when she was just three weeks pregnant with the Italian businessman’s baby, born in 2004.
Seal has since played an active role in raising little Leni and recently made the adoption official - and admits Briatore was surprisingly accepting of the whole process.
He explains, “Heidi handled everything (the adoption). Flavio was a gentleman about the whole thing. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I’m not just talking about in a professional level but just in the way that he has handled the situation, which, let’s face it, must have been really difficult.
“I don’t know if I would have been that adult about it. I certainly have nothing but good things to say about the way he’s been with us and he’s more than welcome to see Leni any time he wants to.”
The singer admits he was moved to make the adoption legal so that the five year old wouldn’t feel excluded from her siblings - Henry, Johan and Lou - who all bear his surname Samuel.
He adds, “It only happened fairly recently. But it doesn’t make her any more or less my daughter. She always has been. All it means is that both Heidi and I wanted her to have the same last name as the rest of us. It was about Leni. I don’t want her to feel different because I know what that’s like, being a kind of stepson. And I don’t want that dynamic for my little girl.”
