LONDON — An American businesswoman has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain of casting her aside “like I am some gremlin” or “some fleeting one-night stand” since the controversy over their past relationship became public.
The woman, Jennifer Arcuri, who is believed to be living in Florida, made her comments in an interview with the British broadcaster ITV News that is to air Sunday night. “I’ve been nothing but loyal, faithful, supportive, and a true confidante of yours,” Ms. Arcuri said, as if addressing Mr. Johnson directly.
“I’ve kept your secrets, and I’ve been your friend,” she said. “And I don’t understand why you’ve blocked me and ignored me as if I was some fleeting one-night stand or some girl that you picked up at a bar because I wasn’t — and you know that.”
The interview threatens to revive a crisis and comes at a pivotal time for Mr. Johnson, who is actively campaigning across Britain for the Dec. 12 general elections. He became prime minister only in July, replacing Theresa May, after he was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
The timing of the Ms. Arcuri’s interview was not lost on his aides.
The Conservative Party did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday, but a party spokesman told ITV News that “any claims of impropriety in office are untrue and unfounded,” and that these are “vexatious and politically motivated attacks.”
The statement was in accordance with what has been the party line since Mr. Johnson’s conduct during as mayor of London has come under scrutiny. He was accused of giving favorable treatment to Ms. Arcuri by assisting her in securing sponsorship money and taking her on trade missions that she was unqualified for.
Mr. Johnson and Ms. Arcuri have denied any wrongdoing.
The Government Internal Audit Agency reviewed a grant that Hacker House, the company for which Ms. Arcuri is chief executive, received in February from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, and found the award of 100,000 pounds, or about $130,000, to be “appropriate.”
But in September, City Hall referred Mr. Johnson to a police watchdog for a possible investigation, saying that the accusations, if true, could amount to misconduct in public office.
“During this time it has been brought to my attention that you maintained a friendship with Ms. Jennifer Arcuri, and as a result of that friendship allowed Ms. Arcuri to participate in trade missions and receive sponsorship monies in circumstances where she and her companies could not have expected otherwise to receive those benefits,” said the referral letter, attributed to the Greater London Authority’s monitoring officer, Emma Strain.
“This will take time to thoroughly assess and consider before any decision is taken as to whether it is necessary to investigate this matter,” the police watchdog said in a statement.
Ms. Arcuri said that she has tried in vain since then to get in touch with Mr. Johnson.
She said that when she called his personal number, she was passed to someone who spoke Chinese. Another time, she said, Mr. Johnson hung up the moment he heard her voice.
She told the broadcaster that she felt she had been “brushed off” as if she was “one of Kennedy’s girlfriends showing up to his White House switchboard.” She apparently was referring to President John F. Kennedy.
The ITV program, “Exposure,” will feature Ms. Arcuri in an episode titled “When Boris Met Jennifer.” It suggests, according to ITV News, that the pair had a four-year affair.
Ms. Arcuri did not directly admit to an affair with Mr. Johnson, according to the broadcaster, but said that “half the people” who had reached out to her after the story about their relationship was revealed advised her to “admit the affair, fall on the sword, get it over with.”
When asked if Mr. Johnson, who lives with his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, at 10 Downing Street, had been in love with her, Ms. Arcuri replied that if he was, “then he should have come and get me.”
“When?” the journalist John Ware asks in the interview.
“In another life,” Ms. Arcuri says with a resigned smile. “This one didn’t work out.”
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