Rachel Uchitel was one of the 120 women that Tiger Woods had a relationship with.
Tiger Woods came under fire in 2009 after it came to light that the golf legend had affairs with 120 women while he was married to ex-wife Elin Nordegren. Now, his former mistress Rachel Uchitel is opening up about the whole scandal. Even though she's apologetic, she's decided to apologize on her own terms.
Recently in an interview with New England Cable News's Derek Zagami, the 45-year-old spoke about how "angry" the people get whenever she is referred. "I spent 10 years having a lot of the media be very snarky in the way that they write about me, the public be very angry in the way they speak about me and the way that they perceive me, and I have felt like they have wanted an apology from me."
She continued, "I am sorry if I triggered something in people that causes anger or hurt in them. I clearly haven't wanted to cause any anger in those people because that is not who I am and that is not a position that I want to put anybody in."
Stating that the past 10 years have been "really hard" for her, Uchitel said that she doesn't see the point of apologizing to anyone else but those involved in the whole ordeal. "I need people to understand that that is not an apology that I owe to anybody because I didn't personally hurt anyone and people don't personally know me. They have to remember that."
"They are putting a lot of their personal anger on me for their own personal issues. It's on my shoulders and that's been really hard for me to take when my personal story has been with two other people, and those are the only people that you know my apology goes to. Or one person, really."
Uchitel also spoke to Extra about the upcoming HBO documentary Tiger where she's telling her side of the story. She said it was important for her to feature on the documentary after spending years "under the shame of what's been going on."
"I have spent all these years letting people think what they want to think and say what they want to say. I needed to take the shackles off and be able to tell my story for me. 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."
She added, "I'm a 45-year-old woman. I made one wrong turn 10 years ago … I didn't throw somebody down the stairs. I didn't kill someone. I made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes."
Echoing what she told Zagami in the New England Cable News where she said that she wants to "have another story" just like Woods has with his life after the infamous affair, she told Extra that all she wants is to clear her name from the scandal and begin a “second chapter of life and be able to have my own comeback and my own fresh start and I want people to have a little bit of empathy because I’m just like everybody else and I’d like to sort of live my life again.”
Uchitel told Page Six that along with featuring in the documentary, she's also writing a book detailing all her experiences. She's also working with Transcend rehab centers where she gives speeches addressing her own relationships and the “love addiction she suffered through.” She said, “Obviously people are captivated by hating me,” she said. “Maybe they’ll be a little bit captivated by loving me for something else if they just give me like five minutes of a chance to get to know me.”
By Uchitel's statement, it's not clear whether she was referring to Woods or Nordegren when she said that she considered apologizing to only "one person."
Woods suffered a huge setback in his career after dozens of women came forward claiming they had sexual relationships with the then-married sportsman. Following the claims, Nordegren divorced him. He got back on his two feet after winning his Masters Tournament in 2019 marking his first title in 11 years, as per People.
Tiger is a two-part documentary that premiered on January 10, 2021. The second part will available to watch on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, January 17.
References:
https://www.necn.com/realitea-with-derek-z/rachel-uchitel-says-im-sorry/2387922/
pagesix.com/2021/01/13/rachel-uchitel-trying-to-clear-her-name-after-tiger-woods-affair/
https://people.com/sports/tiger-woods-former-mistress-rachel-uchitel-apologizes/
