Celebrity
Stripper Candace Houlihan Claims Affair with A-Rod, Supports Divorce
By Adam Higgins and Maggie Taylor

Jul 8, 2008

Forget the alleged affair with Madonna. A former stripper has come forward claiming she had a brief affair with New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez and is lending her support to his soon-to-be ex wife Cynthia Rodriguez as she files for divorce.  

According to a report in the Boston Herald, Candace Houlihan claims she had sex with A-Rod twice back in 2004 while Cynthia was pregnant with their first child.  

"A leopard doesn’t change his spots,” Houlihan told the Herald. “Good for her, I think she’s doing the smart thing. And she’ll probably get tons of cash.”  

A reported yesterday on GayWired.com, Cynthia Rodriguez filed for divorce from Alex in Florida's Miami Dade County Family Court Monday. The divorce petition says the marriage is "irretrievably broken because of the husband's extra-marital affairs and other marital misconduct."  

"Alex has emotionally abandoned his wife and children and has left her with no choice but to divorce him," the petition continues.

Houlihan claims she met A-Rod at Fenway Park with a couple of girlfriends. She tells the Herald that after a couple of drinks, one thing led to another. 

“It was killing me and I felt bad afterwards,” she said. “I’m not a bad person. I know how it feels to be cheated on, it sucks. But a couple of drinks later, I didn’t notice all that much, to tell you the truth.” 

No matter how bad Houlihan claims to have been bothered by the affair (not to mention claiming she was devastated to find his wife was pregnant at the time), it didn't stop her from doing it again. She even tells the Herald she credits herself with leading the Yankees to a win.

A-Rod's marital woes became a matter of public record last week when gossip columnists began linking him to Madonna, who herself has been at the forefront of divorce rumors from husband Guy Ritchie.