Lynda Bellingham’s son Michael Peluso has slammed his former stepfather as “nothing” and claimed he was never part of their family.
The late actress’ eldest son spoke out to say Michael Pattemore was simply someone for his mum to “pass the time with” and slammed his actions since Lynda’s death as “disgusting and vile”.
Michael made the statements in a new interview with the Mirror, as he discussed the increasingly toxic war they have been involved in since his mother’s death from cancer in 2014.
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The Loose Woman left her entire estate to Michael, who she married in 2008. And her sons Michael and Robbie Peluso – who she had with second husband Nunzio – have been fighting for their share ever since.
Revealing that he and his brother are likely to get “less than £50,000 each” from their mother’s £5million estimate, Michael angrily damned the 61-year-old’s behaviour and said he meant nothing to his family.
“Nothing you say or do will ever compare to the love my family had,” he said.
“You can’t take that away from us. You never came close. Just a pretender. Someone to fill the gap. Someone to pass the time with.
“You are lonely. We are love and beauty and dignity. You are nothing,” he added.
“Family is blood, family is forever. You are but a whisper in the wind.
“A distant memory. Soon you will be forgotten, but our family bond goes on for an eternity.
“When all is said and done you won’t be spoken of. No one will remember you.”
Michael, 34, and his younger brother Robbie, have been locked in a battle with their former stepfather ever since Lynda’s death at age 66.
After her death, Michael Pattemore had hair implants, bought a Corvette and took several holidays. But he has always denied claims that he has splurged Lynda’s inheritance or gone against her wishes.
He has given many interviews about his grief and also made strange claims, such as he was visited by Lynda’s ghost and they made love.
“When I read the interview about her ghost, I knew it was time to stand up for her,” said Robbie. “Our stepfather always says he’s close to us, but that’s not the case.”
“We realised this isn’t going to stop, we have to speak out,” added his brother Michael.
“This is why it’s connected and why it is about the money, when you’re talking about what our mother wanted for us – and what our mother would have thought, if she’d seen what happened.”
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“Our mum trusted him to look after us, and that hasn’t happened. None of mum’s friends or family will talk to him now.”
Pattermore has previously said that he has given the boys a £750k flat and that Lynda owed £50k when she died.
He also told the Sunday Mirror that he believed Lynda’s sons had never visited her grave, saying: “If they have, they’ve never left any flowers that I’ve seen.”
He added: “It annoys me that they’re still referred to as boys. They aren’t boys. They’re men. They’re perfectly capable of earning a living.”
Lynda’s widower also revealed that he had found love again, and since Christmas has been in a relationship with a woman who also lost her partner to cancer.