James Gandolfini with Lora Somoza (Ronald Asadorian/Splash)
James Gandolfini’s ex-fiance Lora Somoza has denied reports that the late “Sopranos” star wanted to leave his wife, Deborah Lin, for her.
The 44-year-old sex therapist told Inside Edition that she spoke with the married actor on the phone two weeks before he died of a heart attack. She adamantly insisted they were nothing more than good friends after reports surfaced that Gandolfini was still in love with her and begged for a reconciliation.
“I got to congratulate him on his new baby girl and he sounded really good,” said Somoza during her emotional interview. “I’m glad to have the most recent memory of mine with him on something that sounded really positive.”
Gandolfini met Lora in 2000 when she was an assistant to the director on the set of his film, “The Mexican.” They got engaged in 2003 but broke it off in 2005 after Somoza moved away to care for her grandmother, who was suffering from Alzheimers.
Before his untimely death at the age of 51, Gandolfini was married to former model Lin for four years. In October, Lin gave birth to their daughter Liliana.
Somoza continued, “I was happy that he felt like he had found a woman in his life that made him happy and that he was in a good place…We were friends and we were going to stay friends…He was happily married and I am happily with somebody.”