TORONTO -- Margaret Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister's estranged wife, said today in her new book that Jack Nicholson was the 'first real rival' to her husband but the actor left her for another woman after a brief, torrid affair.

In an except from her biography published in the Toronto Star, Mrs. Trudeau also discussed a drug-filled relationship with a rock musician, Tom Sullivan, whose appeal was his 'extreme youth.'


In the follow-up to an earlier book about her escapades, Mrs. Trudeau said she left Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1977 after choosing 'independence over marital vows.'

Mrs. Trudeau, the mother of three boys who are being raised by Trudeau, described the prime minister as 'mean about money' and said every night for two years before the separation she whispered to herself 'Pierre, please give me a divorce.'

The first of five excerpts from her book Consequences, to be published Jan. 30, focuses on her 1978 trip with Sullivan to London at the invitation of British publisher John Marqusee, who wished to discuss her writing.

Mrs. Trudeau said she was drawn to the 23-year-old Sullivan's 'extreme youth' after leaving French bottled water magnate Bruce Nevins in New York because he was 'a confirmed bachelor.'

'As a rock musician he was offering me a glimpse of another culture, one laced with drugs and sex,' wrote the woman who ended Trudeau's bachelorhood in 1971, when he was 51.

'There were many times when I would have liked to blame all my mistakes on cocaine ... I can't in all truth do that,' she said, adding her consumption of drugs led her to become 'a manic depressive.

While in London, Mrs. Trudeau met actor Jack Nicholson -- 'the first real rival to Pierre.'

However, Nicholson was in love with another woman and the romance ended, although she said that on their last night together 'we made love all night.'

The brief affair left her 'crushed' and feeling like a 'fool,' the woman 29 years younger than Trudeau said. 'I wanted him badly,' she maintained, 'but I didn't need him.'

In a 1979 interview she had discussed romantic involvements with actor Ryan O'Neal, singer Lou Rawls and a friendship with Sen. Edward Kennedy. Kennedy denied any romantic involvement with Mrs. Trudeau.

In her earlier book, Beyond Reason, she wrote of her split with Trudeau after making headlines befriending the Rolling Stones.

The 32-year-old Mrs. Trudeau was last reported living with Ottawa businessman Jimmy Johnson who runs a furniture store. When asked last year about marriage, she replied, 'We're still both married, each of us with children we're trying to bring up.

The Trudeaus seperated in May, 1977, after less than seven years of marriage. The seperation followed months of speculation that her relationship with the prime minister, 29 years her senior, was in trouble.

The 32-year-old Mrs. Trudeau was last reported living with Ottawa businessman Jimmy Johnson who runs a successful furniture store. When asked last year about the prospect of marriage, she replied 'We're still both married, each of us with children we're trying to bring up.

Friends said at the time her life revolved around her three children -- Sasha, Justin and Michel -- and a growing interest in Japanese cooking.

Consequences will be published by Paddington Press Ltd. Jan. 30 and follows the controversial first volume of her autobiography entitled Beyond Reason, which appeared in print in May, 1979.

In Beyond Reason she wrote of her experiences living as a hippy in Morocco before she met the prime minister, her life as the first lady and her eventual split with Trudeau after making headlines befriending the Rolling Stones.

Mrs. Trudeau gained international recognition in Sept., 1979 with a Playgirl interview in which she disussed romantic involvements with actor Ryan O'Neal,singer Lou Rawls and a friendship with U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy. Kennedy later denied any romantic involvement with Mrs. Trudeau.