Former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. began taking testosterone supplements in an effort to win back his wife from the Miami pool boy with whom she had been having an affair, according to a new report.
That was one of the many revelations after the Falwells sat down with Gabriel Sherman for a Vanity Fair interview at their 500-acre Lynchburg farm.
"A former Miami pool boy named Giancarlo Granda claimed he had a nearly seven-year affair with Falwell’s wife, Becki—and that Falwell often liked to watch them have sex. Granda went on a national media tour—he gave interviews to ABC News, CNN, Reuters, Politico, and The Washington Post—and said the Falwells began 'grooming' him when he was 20 and bought his silence with luxury vacations, rides on Liberty’s private jet, and an ownership stake managing a Miami Beach hostel. To bolster his claims, Granda released screenshots of Facetime calls and text conversations with Becki ('I’m not wearing any panties,' she allegedly wrote Granda in one message). Falwell released a statement that acknowledged Becki and Granda’s relationship, but he vehemently denied watching the trysts. Instead, Falwell said he was the real victim of a 'Fatal Attraction–type' extortion plot after Granda demanded $2 million to keep the affair secret," Sherman recounted.
The Falwells recounted how Becki Falwell and Granda grew closer in 2012.
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"They swapped love songs over text (Becki said Granda sent her 'Little Things' by One Direction and 'Sideways' by Citizen Cope)," Sherman reported. "Around this time she started signing her texts to Granda 'I love you.' When Granda called, Becki snuck off to talk. Her unexplained absences became a running joke in the Falwell family. Her kids printed T-shirts that read 'Where’s Becki?'"
The couple went into business with Granda after Becki says she informed her husband of the affair.
“The only way I could do it was to detach. I let it go on. I’m partly to blame," Falwell said. "I was thinking maybe I was the reason she was lonely because I wasn’t taking care of myself."
Gabriel described how Falwell sought to win her back, saying he, "hired a trainer. He lifted weights and took testosterone supplements. Jerry attributed a lot of the incendiary things he later did to side effects of the hormones."
Granda says he has a forthcoming book and Hulu documentary.
Read the full report.
