Brooks Ayers, the ex-husband of The Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson, has admitted he produced fake documents to prove to skeptics he has cancer.
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Ayers previously insisted he obtained legitimate documents -- including some bills that exceeded $30,000 worth of treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma -- from City of Hope hospital in Duarte, CA, to confirm he was a patient at its cancer center, but now he's confessing it was all a big scam.
"Words cannot express the deep regret that I have in fabricating documents to 'prove' to the world that I, in fact, have cancer. What I did was wrong and inexcusable," Ayers told E! News in a Wednesday statement.
"I acted alone, without Vicki's knowledge, to produce documents for a reality TV show in hopes of putting doubts about my cancer to rest. I never intended to disclose my actual medical records or details about my private and personal medical history, thus the rationalization of presenting documents that weren't true simply for a 'storyline' for the show."
Ayers' confession comes only a day after a representative for City of Hope hospital denied him ever having been a patient there.
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"From this day forward, my own personal journey with this disease will remain private as I initially intended over a year ago. My sincerest apologies to my family, friends, loved ones, and those who are battling this horrid disease for any additional pain and/or stress that I have caused," Ayers continued in the statement.
"As [University of Louisville basketball coach] Rick Pitino once said, 'Mistakes can be good. They are fertilizer. Everything I've learned about coaching [life], I've learned from making mistakes.' I made a mistake yet I have learned a huge lesson as well."
When a follower asked Gunvalson on Twitter about her relationship with Ayers, the 53-year-old reality TV star replied Wednesday, "I don't talk to him nor will I ever speak to him again. This man is sick."
Gunvalson left her former husband, Donn Gunvalson, for Ayers four years ago.
At the time, Ayers claimed he was dying from pancreatic cancer, but he later confessed to Gunvalson's daughter Briana Culberson it was just pancreatitis. Culberson also accused Ayers of hitting on her once while pregnant at her mother's birthday party, a claim he vehemently denied.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski