THE blonde tour representative who was accused of causing the sinking of the Costa Concordia by romantically distracting the captain has given her first full newspaper interview "to set the record straight".

Domnica Cemortan had been dining and flirting with Captain Francisco Schettino before the disaster and was with him on the bridge when the ship struck rocks on January 13.

It is possible, as was widely reported, that 52-year-old Mr Schettino – now known universally as Captain Coward – may have been trying to impress the 25-year-old Moldovan when his ship sailed off course.

For the past six weeks Ms Cemortan has been at the centre of worldwide attempts to uncover precisely what happened on the night that up to 32 people lost their lives off the Italian coastline.

Rumours about the nature of her relationship with the flamboyant captain have led to her being called a siren, a woman of loose morals, and everything in between.

Through it all she has repeatedly denied any romance between her and the married captain. Even after her luggage and bikinis were discovered in the captain’s submerged cabin, she insisted it was "all lies".

But last week, after The Mail on Sunday tracked her down in her homeland, where she lives with her mother and two-year-old daughter, Ms Cemortan finally revealed her true feelings for the discredited Italian seaman.

Mr Schettino is under house arrest on suspicion of multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing shipwreck. If convicted, he faces 15 years in jail.

Ms Cemortan admits that not only had she been alone with Mr Schettino in his cabin earlier during the evening of the tragedy, but that they had shared a passionate kiss, which she suspects was a prelude to them becoming lovers.



She had previously worked on the ship for three weeks translating for Russian passengers and it was then that she got to know Mr Schettino. When her contract ended the month before the tragedy, she returned as a paying passenger on the ill-fated cruise.

She says that although she had a serious "crush" on the Italian captain, she was never "in love" with him and their affair never really got started.

"He was always respectful when I was a member of his staff, but once I was a passenger then it was different," she says.

"I think we probably would have ended up in bed, eventually, but I never found out because of the crash."

Ms Cemortan admits that her luggage had been left in the captain's cabin, but says it was only a temporary arrangement while she waited for a cabin to become available.

Read more at the Daily Mail.

Originally published as Concordia blonde on 'Captain Coward'