Clinton seen with new blonde

Published on Wednesday 18 September 2002 01:00

BILL Clinton’s chequered love life became the source of fresh speculation yesterday after he was spotted with yet another blonde.

The former US president is reported to have shared an intimate dinner with Belinda Stronach, a married business woman.

According to reports, Mr Clinton, 56, wined and dined Ms Stronach, 35, the head of an international car parts company, in Toronto.

The pair have apparently struck up a cosy friendship and were caught embracing at the end of the evening.

"Clinton gave her a peck on the cheek before she got into her car," the New York Post reported. Another tabloid, the Daily News, pronounced that the two "had dinner and were seen embracing before they parted".

The papers said that the couple appeared to be fairly close, exchanging fond glances as they walked around the city.

Mr Clinton, who was in Toronto for a party honouring the musician Ronnie Hawkins, who has been diagnosed with cancer, twitched awkwardly with his mobile phone after realising that he and Ms Stronach, who was wearing a black dress and diamond necklace, were being followed by photographers.

The revelations are bound to renew consternation between Mr Clinton and his wife Hillary, to whom he has been married for 26 years.

Four months ago Mr Clinton was linked with another blonde socialite, Lisa Belzberg, 38, who is also a Canadian.

In February, Ms Stonach became the chief executive of Canada-based Magna International, a car parts company founded by her father.

In 1999 she married a former Olympic speed-skating champion, Johann Olav Koss, who is her second husband.

"She holds the bizarre distinction of taking over the top job from her ex-husband, who now heads one of the $10.5 billion company’s largest subsidiaries," reported Fortune magazine this year.