Joan Collins brands son's claims ex-husband Anthony Newley was a paedophile 'extremely naive'

Star responds after Sacha Newley says actor father 'was drawn to youthfulness, he thought innocence was an aphrodisiac'

Dame Joan Collins has called her son Sacha Newley's claim that her ex-husband Anthony Newley was a paedophile “extremely naive”.

Artist Sacha told The Sunday Times that his father “was a paedophile. My father was drawn to youthfulness, he thought innocence was an aphrodisiac”.

“That was his sexual proclivity and it's a very dangerous, destructive thing,” he said.

But actress Dame Joan told Good Morning Britain: “I think that Sacha's being extremely naive and not really knowing the meaning of that word because what Tony admittedly was, is he loved young women and young women of 17, 18, 19 years old. Not children by any means.

“Never in a million years would I have been married to somebody like that.”

She added: “Categorically, I can say that it is not true, that I never saw any of that kind of behaviour from Anthony.”

And she added of Newley, who died in 1999: “I haven't been married to him for 40-something years.”

Dame Joan said it was a “very” stressful time for her.

On Sunday she issued a statement, saying: “As far as I'm concerned this is absolutely untrue. I have nothing further to add.”

The actress's daughter Tara also spoke out against her brother, and said she is “deeply upset” by his allegations against their late father.

“I was shocked by my brother's comments in today's papers.

“From my end, I don't recognise the man he is describing. I had an incredibly close relationship with my father and am deeply upset by these false allegations,” she said.

Actor and singer-songwriter Newley, who died aged 67 following a battle with cancer, was Dame Joan's second husband.

They were married in 1963 but divorced seven years later.

Sacha, 52, told the newspaper that he believes his father's 1969 film Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe And Find True Happiness? was “a confession of paedophilia”.

PA