, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey has revealed that he had his first gay affair while his wife, Dina, was in the hospital after giving birth to their child.
"I was totally in love with this man," McGreevey wrote of the Israeli man, Golan Cipel, in his memoir "The Confession."
"With Dina still in the hospital with our newborn, I'd been left to my own devices," he wrote, the New York Daily News reported.
Speaking Tuesday on Oprah Winfrey's TV show, McGreevey said he told his wife about his homosexuality only because Cipel threatened to blackmail him.
Without that pressure, McGreevey said, "I don't think I would have ever had the courage to come out of the closet."
Cipel has denied that any encounters with McGreevey were consensual and has claimed he was sexually harassed. He also denied blackmailing McGreevey, reported the Newark Star-Ledger.
McGreevey said he regrets hurting his wife, and recounted how, after he came out, she carried around a book entitled "The Betrayal Bond: Breaking Free of Exploitative Relationships."
McGreevey resigned as governor in November 2004, after disclosing his homosexuality and his affair with Cipel.
