The successor to the late Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider has said that the two men enjoyed "a special relationship" and that Mr Haider was his "life partner".
Speaking to Austrian radio, Stefan Petzner, who took over as leader of Alliance for Austria's Future after Mr Haider's recent death, said: "We had a special relationship that went far beyond friendship.
"Joerg and I were connected by something truly special. He was the man of my life."
Mr Haider (58), whose party advocated anti-immigration and anti-EU policies, was killed earlier this month in a car crash. He was found to have had a high blood alcohol limit.
His Alliance for Austria's Future had recently secured over 10 per cent of the votes in September's general election.
Mr Petzner's comments during a tearful interview have shocked conservative Austria and appear to confirm long-standing rumours that he and Mr Haider were lovers.
According to reports, the Alliance for Austria's Future tried to stop repeats of the broadcast, but state broadcaster ORF insisted it would not be gagged.
Mr Petzner met Mr Haider five years ago when he was working as a beauty correspondent, said he felt a “magnetic attraction” to the politician, who was 31 years older.
Mr Haider portrayed himself as a family man who drank little, and he once voted against a parliamentary motion to lower the age of consent for homosexuals.
After his car crash, however, it emerged that the politician had been driving at twice the speed limit, his blood alcohol level had been four times the legal limit, and that he had spent his final hours in a gay bar in Klagenfurt, the capital of the southern state where he was governor.
There has been further speculation that the crash happened after the two men argued at a party, according to the Guardian.
Mr Petzner said that Claudia, Mr Haider’s wife of 32 years and the mother of his two daughters, had not objected to their relationship.
However, in a magazine interview, Mr Petzner's sister, Christiane, said: "Claudia was sometimes jealous of him because he spent more time with her husband than she did," the Guardianreported.