Sunday night, the first episode of HBO’s two-part docuseries TIGER will air. Tiger Woods will take center stage, as will his past cheating scandal featuring several women. Rachel Uchitel, possibly the most famous of these women, has spoken out and said that the notorious affair “is not who I am.”
Uchitel commented during an interview with Extra’s Billy Bush. She explained why she decided to come forward about the infamous affair more than a decade later. She also talked about the impact that the relationship and the subsequent backlash had on her life. Uchitel said that people had branded her as a mistress and as a homewrecker.
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“I am looking forward to this documentary coming out because it really does show that the media took the opportunity to blame me for someone else humiliating their wife,” Uchitel told Bush. “And, you know, as you and I have discussed, one moment doesn’t define your life… And I don’t like to be branded as a mistress. I don’t like to be branded as a homewrecker — that’s not who I am.
“I’m a 45-year-old woman. I made one wrong turn 10 years ago,” she continued. “I didn’t throw somebody down the stairs. I didn’t kill someone. I made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes.”
During the conversation, Uchitel revealed that she has spoken to Monica Lewinsky, the woman from the Bill Clinton scandal in 1998. She said that she kept the details of the interaction private, only saying that it occurred recently. Though Uchitel did say that Lewinsky is “a very nice woman.”
When asked about her decision to speak out about the relationship as part of the HBO documentary, Uchitel mentioned that the whole thing made her life “a living hell.” She explained that she wanted people to see what really happened. “I was not a mistress, and I was in a real relationship, and I want people to leave me alone about it. I made a bad decision. And I regret it, and I’m embarrassed about it, and… my apology is to two people, not the world, two people,” Uchitel said.
The upcoming two-part documentary will provide Uchitel with the opportunity to tell her side of the story for the first time, as well as the scandal’s impact on her life. Part 1 will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 9 p.m. ET. Part 2 will air on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 9 p.m. ET.
