Gino said that last December the two had begun to drift apart and they broke up after Noemi had told him she was going to Berlusconi’s villa on the island of Sardinia for New Year.

He said: ‘When she came back she told me there were around 30 girls there and they were all given bungalows in the grounds to sleep in. Noemi brought a friend with her and in their bungalow there were two twins.

‘Noemi told me that Berlusconi had treated them well and laughed and joked with them. She said that Berlusconi was only with them New Year’s Eve but I didn’t believe her.

‘There was a lot of strange things going on – I would call her mobile and she would not answer it so I called her friend Roberta who was with her but she kept telling me Noemi was busy and couldn’t talk.