“I would never have gotten involved with Tristan if I thought he was in a relationship.”
The woman who is allegedly the mother of Tristan Thompson‘s third child, Maralee Nichols, just gave her first public statement.
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News that Tristan had fathered a third child with Maralee hit earlier this month amidst reports that he was being sued for child support.
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Tristan reportedly admitted to having an affair with Maralee between December 2020 and ending around his 30th birthday — which was when Khloé Kardashian went public with their reunion and the baby was allegedly conceived.
“Over the past couple of weeks, many inaccurate and false stories have been circulated about me,” Maralee told E! News. “I am providing this statement because I feel I must defend my character.”
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“There have been multiple fake Instagram posts claiming to be me, making false statements and attaching stock photos of a sonogram and a child (neither mine),” she continued.
“These are the facts: I have lived in California since 2019. I am not a personal trainer. I have not worked as a personal trainer for four years; I do fitness modeling. I was never a personal trainer for Tristan.”
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Maralee then said that she met Tristan at a party at his home: “He told me he was single and co-parenting. I would never have gotten involved with Tristan if I thought he was in a relationship.”
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“Tristan told me he was not having a sexual relationship with anyone else; it was not casual sex nor did we have any arrangement. Tristan and I communicated daily and talked on the phone. We would see each other several times a month,” Maralee added, according to People.
“I did not file any request for child support before our child was born…I was induced on November 29, 2021 because I had a placenta abnormality,” she continued. “I gave birth on December 1, 2021. Instead of focusing on any negativity, I am choosing to embrace being a mother and doing the best I can for my son.”
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“I do not want any further media attention, nor do I want a romantic relationship with Tristan. My goal is to raise our son in a safe, healthy, loving and private environment.”
Maralee is currently in the process of a paternity lawsuit in California. Tristan’s parallel lawsuit in Texas has been dismissed.
You can read the full statement here.