JULIO Iglesias' 'secret son' appeared on a talk show this week and admitted he and his father had once come face to face when he was in his teens.
Javier Sánchez Santos, 44, from Valencia, obtained DNA from discarded tissues in a Miami bar through a private detective which proved to be a perfect match and showed Julio Iglesias was definitely his father, but he has been forced to defend his case again and again as the legendary crooner, 76, continues to appeal.
Iglesias has refused to provide a DNA sample and has never admitted paternity.
His lawyer argues that there was no 'relationship' between María Edite, Javier's mother, and Julio which could have possibly resulted in a pregnancy, claiming they only met briefly at a party and were never alone together.
At the time, Julio was married to Philippine-Spanish model and it-girl Isabel Preysler – mother of pop sensation Enrique Iglesias, and who is now married to Peruvian Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa - which means if there had been a relationship between Julio and María Edite, however brief, it would have been an extra-marital affair on the singer's part.
The paternity suit started in 1992, when Javier was 16.
Although Javier says he does not want to cash in on Iglesias' multi-million fortune and 'just wants closure' and 'maybe a future relationship' with Julio, he refers to him as 'my father' whenever he talks about him.
On the programme Deluxe – heavily-watched this week after habitual co-presenter Mila Ximénez reappeared on set in the middle of her battle with metastatic lung cancer – Javier Sánchez Santos said: “I'm worried about my father's health.”
The last time Julio was photographed in public – earlier this summer – he was shown hobbling painfully and being supported on either side by assistants.
“I hope he's okay and lasts for many more years; this will give me more time and more hope of being able to get to know him,” says Javier.
“One of the things I hope for the most is that he'll get to know his granddaughter,” says Javier, speaking of his first child, a little girl who is nearly a year old.
“I want her to have the privileges that I haven't had.”
This led many followers of the saga to question whether Javier's insistence he is not interested in Julio's money is genuine – although some would say it was only right that he and his daughter should not have to struggle in life if his father is extremely wealthy, and that his mother especially should be entitled to some financial help after bringing up Iglesias' son without the singer's involvement.
Also, Javier's emotional feelings about the situation seem to come across loud and clear: He has always said he wants some sort of bond with Julio, that he has never understood, growing up, why his biological father had never wanted anything to do with him – despite reportedly knowing about Javier's birth in 1976 – but that he has shelved the anger and hurt for the time being, believing that he and Julio 'have years ahead' of them to 'repair the damage'.
Javier has, though, already made tentative connections with some of his half-siblings.
Iglesias' son Julio José met Javier and introduced him to his friends as 'my brother'.
“I don't feel any rejection towards my father these days, but the first thing I'd want to ask him is, 'why?'
“We actually met briefly during a press conference when I was about 15 or 16. I got in such a state I had to leave the room and, outside, I came face to face with my father.
“He looked at me, bowed his head and carried on walking.”
Javier has said in the past that his biological father's behaviour – leaving his mother to bring him up and not having anything to do with him – is 'a brand of sexism that's now long out of date'.
Viewers of Deluxe have since commented on social media about the striking resemblance between Javier (pictured centre) and his biological father.
Back in May, Javier's mother María Edite (pictured right) slammed the father of her son after the paternity suit was once again thrown out, despite a 99.9% DNA match – the highest possible.
A furious María, 65, said: “I'm really indignant, because I don't understand the justice system.
“It's evident there's no justice. It's a huge injustice. There's proof that shows Javier is Julio Iglesias' son, just as happened with El Cordobés [a famous bull-fighter whose biological son filed a paternity suit and won, using the same solicitors' firm as the one working for Javier].
“The exact same technique was used [in the El Cordobés case].
“Judges are in favour of power, they're not in favour of people's children.
“Julio is a bad father and a bad person. He knows perfectly well there's proof that Javier is his son, and he's known he was his son since Javier was two years old.
“It's such a shame that, having a son and a beautiful baby granddaughter, he would do this. He's a bad person.”
Javier has always said he is partly pursuing the paternity suit for his mother's benefit, to 'bring justice to her'.
Now, María announces: “We'll go to the Supreme Court and to wherever we need to go, right to the bitter end. I hope a light switches on for the Supreme and its judges and that they see the truth at last. If not, we'll go to the Court of Human Rights. The name says it all: Human rights, so they should be on my son's side.
“This pain I feel is not for myself, it's for my son.
“It's such a shame, because Julio Iglesias is a human being who is also going to die one day, like all of us, and right now with the pandemic we're all going through, he's not even thinking about his child and grandchild, but instead he's thinking about other things I can't get my head around.”
María Edite calls the legal saga a 'war of truth against power and power against truth'.
According to presenters on Deluxe whilst talking to Javier, the United Nations is now reportedly looking into the case.
