Gennifer Flowers says that her 'heart sunk' when she realized that Bill Clinton was going to stay married instead of be with her after she became pregnant with his baby, she reveals in a new interview.

Flowers, who claims she had a 12-year affair with Clinton, has opened up about her relationship with the former president, which she says began in 1977.

The now-66-year-old says that Clinton personally paid $200 for her to get an abortion that same year, which was also when she says she learned that Hillary Clinton was aware of the alleged affair. The relationship continued for another 11, years, Flowers says.

Speaking to Aaron Klein Investigative Radio, Flowers described her abortion as 'not only physically painful but it was very psychologically painful'.

Gennifer Flowers claimed on Friday that in the first year of her 12-year affair with Bill Clinton, he personally paid $200 for her to get an abortion

Flowers claims her relationship with Clinton started in 1977, the same year she became pregnant with who she says was his child. Pictured above is Clinton in 1978

'I told him (Bill Clinton). And deep down I wanted to hear him say, "Okay well I'm going to get a divorce and we'll have this baby and everything is going to be fine". And the first words out of his mouth were, "Well you know I will pay for an abortion",' she told the radio show.

She said that after hearing Clinton say those words, she knew she'd have to raise the baby on her own, so she decided to have the abortion.

'And of course my heart sunk. And then the reality you know hit me right in the face. That he was married and he was going to stay married,' Flowers said.

Flowers said that she was 'more casual with birth control then I would have been normally' when she was with Clinton, because he told her he couldn't have children.

Three years after Flowers allegedly had her abortion, Bill and Hillary's daughter Chelsea was born in 1980.

Flowers recalled protesters being at the clinic, and feared they would recognize her as a reporter. But after the procedure, when she was in a room alone, the pain settled in.

'I was sitting there and I just started sobbing and it seemed like the subs came from my stomach and up. It was the deepest sobs that I've ever done. And anyway like I said it was a horrible experience in every way,' she told the radio show.

Clinton was already married to Hillary Clinton (the couple pictured together in the 1970s) when his affair with Flowers began

Hillary and Bill married in October 1975. Clinton and Flowers began their affair two years later, in 1977

Clinton, was, however, there for Flowers following the abortion and was 'very sweet' and 'gentle', she said.

She said he 'seemed very sorry that I had gone through what I had. I don't think that he would have changed his mind. But he sincerely seemed to have sympathy and like I said and also cared about the physical pain as well'.

Flowers said that Hillary 'absolutely' knew about the alleged affair as early as the year it began, because security would tell Bill he had messages.

'And so she had a conversation with him a little bit later that she was getting real tired of hearing that name,' Flowers said. 'And that she wanted it to stop. And he told her it wasn't gonna stop.

'And she said, 'Well, Just at least don't embarrass me'. Well of course he went on to embarrass her. Many, many times.'

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com in 2013, Flowers spoke of her deep regret at turning down Clinton's pleas to talk ten years ago and revealed her belief that they would still be together today, were it not the birth of Clinton's daughter, Chelsea.

She said: 'We have some unresolved issues that it would be nice to sit down and talk about now. He was the love of my life and I was the love of his life and you don't get over those things.'

On January 23, 1992 - the same year Clinton was elected president - tabloid The Star named Flowers as Clinton's mistress

Clinton and wife Hillary appeared on 60 minutes,side by side, flat denying the affair after The Star named Flowers as Clinton's mistress in January 1992

Flowers helda news conference on January 27, 1992 with her lawyer to say that she did have a 12-year affair with

Flowers (right) gave a deposition in Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton. She's pictured above along with her attorney Rugger Burke, arriving at a Dallas law firm for the deposition

It has been 24 years since Flowers' allegations of a long-running affair with then Democratic candidate Bill Clinton became the most sensational event of the 1992 campaign.

On January 23, 1992 tabloid The Star named Flowers as Clinton's mistress. Three days later Clinton and wife Hillary appeared on 60 minutes,side by side, flat denying the claim.

Six years later Clinton admitted to having sexual relations with Flowers 'one time' in 1977 in his deposition to lawyers representing former Arkansas State employee Paula Jones in her sexual harassment lawsuit against him.

By then Flowers was already well and truly defined by the scandal which had made both her, and Clinton, household names.

Apparently driven on by the belief that the 'truth will set you free,' she proceeded to tell her story in a best-selling book and pose for Penthouse magazine.

Penthouse alone reportedly earned her close to $1million in the aftermath of the scandal.

She said: 'I was singing in nightclubs, wearing very sexyoutifts and gowns, a very independent liberated woman. I was the Madonna of my day – in Little Rock.'

Following her affair with Clinton, Flowers found a career singing. She used to own a cabaret club where she used to perform nightly

Flowers believes that they would be together today were it not for the birth of his daughter, Chelsea, in 1980

On posing for Penthouse Flowers said: 'I made the decision to do it.

'No-one made me do or asked me to do anything that made me feel uncomfortable.

I knew Bob (Guccione) would be making me look as good as possible and what woman doesn't enjoy that?'

During their time together, Clinton shared a lot of intimacies regarding his marriage to Hillary, Flowers said.

The information left Flowers in no doubt that the union is far from 'traditional'.

She said: 'What they have is very strong. It obviously worked for them but I've never considered theirs a traditional marriage.'

When rumours surfaced in recent years of an affair between Hillary Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin, Flowers was not surprised.

The rumours concerning Huma, wife of Anthony Weiner first emerged as she stood by her husband in the wake of his second 'sexting' scandal in 2013.

Flowers said: 'I don't know Huma or the Weiners. I just know what Bill told me and that was that he was aware that Hillary was bisexualand he didn't care. He should know.

'He said Hillary had eaten more p***y than he had.'

Reflecting on her affair with Clinton she said: 'The whole experience changed my life forever and everything went in a different direction.

'I don't regret telling the truth. It was a defining moment in American culture absolutely.'

When rumours surfaced in recent years of an affair between Hillary Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin (pictured together on Sunday), Flowers was not surprised

The only difference now, she said, with advances in technology Clinton would have been unable to deny the affair as he did for several years.

She said: 'I had recorded telephone conversations thank God.But if I hadn't had them and Monica [Lewinsky] hadn't had that blue dress we would have been cast out as crazy stalkers.

'I think today Bill and I would have texted every opportunity we got. So I would have had tons of texts from him.'

She also believes that they would be together today were it not for the birth of his daughter, Chelsea, in 1980.

She said: 'for a long time he was able to have it all. Then when they had Cheslea and he became Governor the stakes became higher.'

Today Flowers is single. She has been engaged 'a couple of times' since her divorce in 2005. She lives in New Orleans and sings regularly,though no longer owns the cabaret club where she used to perform nightly.

'I love singing,' she said. 'It's who I am. That's who I am today I've had the opportunity as time has gone on to put things in their place in my head and move forward.

'But,' she admitted. 'I'm still affected by it, the Clintons in some way every day and every day something happens that sparks a memory.