{"id":4715,"date":"2026-04-02T16:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/4715\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T16:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:59:08","slug":"melonis-cabinet-rocked-by-affair-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/4715\/","title":{"rendered":"Meloni\u2019s cabinet rocked by affair scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former model has revealed she is having an affair with Italy\u2019s interior minister, causing a new crisis for Giorgia Meloni<\/a> just a week after she lost a major referendum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Claudia Conte claimed in a radio interview that she was having an affair with Matteo Piantedosi, a 62-year-old minister who is married with two grown-up children.<\/p>\n

It has emerged that Conte, 34, now a journalist, was given an unpaid position on a parliamentary commission of inquiry that centres around policing and security issues in the urban fringes of Italy\u2019s cities.<\/p>\n

The Italian prime minister is under growing pressure as she deals with the fallout from the referendum result and allegations that one of her ministers, who resigned last week, had links to the mafia.<\/p>\n

Conte, who has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, was asked by a podcaster about rumours that she was in a romantic relationship with the minister.<\/p>\n

She replied: \u201cIt\u2019s something that I cannot deny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Giorgia<\/p>\n

Giorgia Meloni is under increasing political pressure after revelations emerged that Matteo Piantedosi was having an extra-marital affair – Mondadori Portfolio\/Getty<\/p>\n

Mr Piantedosi has not commented publicly on the claim, nor has Ms Meloni.<\/p>\n

Conte has held various public roles and consultancies, including artistic director of an Italian film festival, while her Instagram account shows her mixing with ministers, politicians, and Pope Leo.<\/p>\n

Opposition parties are demanding that the minister respond to the accusations.<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

Claudia Conte\u2019s social media profiles have highlighted her meetings with various high profile figures in Italy, including Pope Leo – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Elly Schlein, who leads the Democratic Party, said Ms Meloni\u2019s coalition had been hit by \u201cthe umpteenth scandal\u201d and demanded that the minister shed light on any roles that Conte may have received under the patronage of Mr Piantedosi.<\/p>\n

Luana Zanella, an MP from the Green-Left Alliance, said: \u201cThe revelations are very opaque. The minister must explain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Meloni has already lost Gennaro Sangiuliano<\/a>, the culture minister, because of an affair. The 63-year-old was forced to resign in September 2024 after it was revealed that he had been in a secret romantic relationship with a young influencer named Maria Rosaria Boccia.<\/p>\n

He made a tearful confession<\/a> on primetime television, apologising to the prime minister for causing her embarrassment, and to his wife for his betrayal.<\/p>\n

Mr Sangiuliano was the first minister to resign from Ms Meloni\u2019s Right-wing government since she came to power in 2022.<\/p>\n

\"Gennaro<\/p>\n

Gennaro Sangiuliano confessed to having a romantic liaison with Maria Rosaria Boccia on primetime TV<\/p>\n

Last week, the prime minister lost a referendum on a plan to overhaul the judicial system, puncturing her aura of invincibility just as she gears up for a general election<\/a> that is likely to be held next year.<\/p>\n

It was followed by the loss of three senior government figures, including Andrea Delmastro, the deputy justice minister, who was revealed to have held shares in a restaurant allegedly linked to the mafia.<\/p>\n

Another loss was Daniela Santanch\u00e8, the tourism minister, who is involved in legal proceedings over allegations of fraud and false accounting relating to her business activities.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the scandals, Ms Meloni is attempting a reset and will address parliament next week to announce her government\u2019s policies for the coming months.<\/p>\n

She also wants to forge ahead with a reform of Italy\u2019s electoral system, which would \u200coffer a guaranteed majority &NoBreak;for any coalition winning more than 40 per cent of the vote.<\/p>\n

The government said the reform would ensure greater stability and prevent the kind of fragile coalitions and hung parliaments which have dogged Italy in the past.<\/p>\n

Critics say the reform will unfairly benefit Ms Meloni\u2019s coalition<\/a> and enable it to cling to power at the next election.<\/p>\n

Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former model has revealed she is having an affair with Italy\u2019s interior minister, causing a new crisis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[127],"tags":[5010,5315,273,5316,5314,952,5318,5313,2898,4277,5319,5317],"class_list":["post-4715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-giorgia-meloni","tag-claudia-conte","tag-gennaro-sangiuliano","tag-giorgia-meloni","tag-interior-minister","tag-italian-prime-minister","tag-italy","tag-maria-rosaria-boccia","tag-matteo-piantedosi","tag-ms-meloni","tag-pope-leo","tag-referendum-result","tag-romantic-relationship"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116336182136847841","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}