Scandal-hit Berlusconi insists he has 'no skeletons in his closet'

London, Aug 8 (ANI): Despite drowning in scandals involving prostitutes and kinky parties, Silvio Berlusconi insists that he has nothing to feel sorry for and "no skeletons in his closet".

While responding to apparent criticism from his daughter, Barbara, the 72-year-old premier said he had "no skeletons in his closet and cannot be blackmailed by anybody", reports The Telegraph.

In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine this week, Barbara Berlusconi, 25, had said that politicians cannot afford to differentiate between their public and private lives.

She added that the news of her dad giving an aspiring teenage lingerie model a gold and diamond necklace as a present on birthday "astonished" her.

Responding to his daughter's claims, the Italian PM, during a press conference at his offices in Rome, said: "Her dad has nothing to be sorry about in his private life and nothing to apologise for, even to his family members.

"The premier has no skeletons in his closet and cannot be blackmailed by anybody."

Berlusconi joked about his fondness for the opposite sex.

"Foreign newspapers ... continue to say that I hate women and that I am against women. If there is something I adore it's women, I believe that is widely known," he added. (ANI)