So you are considered one of daytime’s most popular stars thanks to roles on “Guiding Light” and “One Life to Live,” but what happens when your real life is more of a soap opera than the reel-life you had on one? Crystal Hunt knows what it’s really like as the actress got engaged to Dr. Philippe Spiess – a cancer surgeon on Christmas Eve, 2008. So what could possibly have gone wrong? More than you could imagine.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, Hunt called off the engagement after learning that Spiess had been keeping secrets from her, secrets that were awfully similar to that of her character Stacy Morasco on ABC’s “One Life to Live.” It appears that Spiess had been hiding the truth behind a child he had fathered prior to his relationship with Hunt, but it wasn’t the existence of the child that he was hiding, it was the facts resulting from the child’s conception. A month before the two got engaged, the doctor had informed the actress that he had a son, and that the child was from a one-night stand he had with a woman he accused of tricking him. But according to an anonymous letter the actress received on her birthday in February 2009, Spiess had seemed “quite happy” about the baby initially, but soon after he didn’t want the “burden of a child.”
Not believing what she was hearing, but wanting the truth, Hunt hired detectives to investigate. “I had to find out if there was more to that story or not,” said Hunt. According to the detectives’ report, Spiess had in fact fathered said child with a woman from his past in December 2007, but it wasn’t from a one night stand. It seems the good doctor had been in a relationship with the woman, a real relationship. Seeing the writing on the wall, Hunt called off the engagement via telephone by telling Spiess, “This isn’t going to work out. We need to part ways.” Of course, she kept the ring, however.
Hunt is currently being sued by Spiess, who wants her to return the engagement ring he gave her which is worth a reported $96,000 according to court documents. He also wants her to compensate him for $43,000 in furniture. In return, Hunt doesn’t believe she owes him anything as she had bought them an $870,000 home in Tarpon Springs, Florida, which is in addition to the near $900,000 worth of gifts she had bought him during their relationship.
For more on the tantalizing story, head on over to the St. Petersburg Times website.