Rielle Hunter on her split with Edwards: ‘I'm not a mistress, I'm a mom'

— -- Rielle Hunter appeared on The View this morning to discuss her new tell-all book about her relationship with John Edwards, but opened the interview discussing this morning's news that she and Edwards had split.

Introduced by Barbara Walters as, "the sexy blonde who husbands can't resist," Hunter confirmed that she and Edwards had broken up, but declined to specify who had ended the relationship--characterizing it as a mutual decision.

"I'm not a mistress, I'm a mom," she said, defending her relationship--to the consternation of The View hosts. She said she was "not a big believer in infidelity" and that she "became that [a mistress] in order to be with him."

"I hear everything you are saying, but in your book you trash a dead lady whose husband you had an affair and had a baby with," said Whoopi Goldberg. "Did it not occur to you that that maybe that might not be the right tone to take?"