Rielle Hunter, filming John Edwards

A brief shot of the woman John Edwards has admitted having an affair with, from my quirky video on the road with Edwards.

I was with the Edwards campaign, similarly filming behind-the-scenes video, when he launched his campaign in New Orleans in December 2006. After NOLA we went to Iowa, where Edwards drew a huge crowd. There was a celebratory mood in the air as we got back on the Edwards jet to fly to New Hampshire.

On that flight, there was a lot of booze and elation, excitement and hope. Edwards was in the back of the plane with Rielle, and a couple of other campaign staffers. I remember Edwards turning on his iPod and grooving his head around. I went back to use the bathroom and when I came out, decided to chat with Rielle. She was very outgoing, maybe even flirtatious, but really nice. I asked how she got the gig filming webisodes, and she said she met him in a bar and they clicked, and she proposed some online documentary showing his authenticity. She told me about some Hollywood sitcom writing and other weird projects she'd been involved with - nothing I'd ever heard of.

Unfortunately, I've always held a small seed of suspicion that the affair rumors could be true from my short experience with the campaign. But I'm nevertheless very saddened to hear it's true, especially sad for Elizabeth Edwards who is an even more inspiring figure than John Edwards.