Anna Nicole paternity riddle deepens

Feb 14, 2007, 8:00 GMT

Smith...EPA/JASON SZENES

Anna Nicole Smith's former bodyguard Alexander Denk claims to be her daughter Dannielynn's father.

Denk claims he had a two-year affair with the late Playboy Playmate, during which Anna Nicole allegedly begged him to start a family with her.

He told US TV show 'Extra': "I think it was an instant spark, and I think it was the same for her. She was wonderful, a very sensitive and emotional woman. A very good kisser, I must say.

"She told me she wanted to have her kids with me. There's always a possibility I could be Dannielynn's father."

Denk, who met the model when he was cast as the chef on 'The Anna Nicole Show', revealed the 39-year-old was secretly suffering from life-threatening seizures which could have caused her tragic death.

He said: "She told me everything, things no one else knows. I knew she was in trouble when I talked to her two weeks ago. She was sick of being called names. Everyone was bashing her and putting her down and suing her."

When asked if he thought drugs were to blame for Anna Nicole's death, he replied: "In my opinion, I don't think so. I think she was exhausted. Poor Anna, I hope she's in peace wherever she is."

There are now five possible fathers of five-month-old Dannielynn - Anna Nicole's late husband J. Howard Marshall, her lover and lawyer Howard K. Stern, Zsa Zsa Gabor's gay fibber husband Prince Frederic von Anhalt and photographer Larry Birkhead.

Birkhead, who filed a lawsuit demanding Dannielynn undergo a paternity test, says he begged Anna Nicole to quit drugs when she fell pregnant.

He told the New York Daily News newspaper: "I am sorry that I couldn't save them, I tried. I watched over her to make sure she was safe, and I was basically pushed to the side. I had no control over what she or anyone else around her did."

A friend of Birkhead's claims he gave the busty blonde an ultimatum to help her get clean.

The source said: "He told her, 'If you don't stop your lifestyle, now that you're pregnant with my baby, I will go for custody.' That's when she ran away to the Bahamas."

Birkhead says he knew Dannielynn was his at the first ultrasound.

He revealed: "The first ultrasound was incredible. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

"She made me sing to the unborn baby. I would cook her pancakes and rub her back. Then we would get the ultrasound pictures out and just look at them in amazement."

(C) BANG Media International