Open wide: Berlusconi’s latest showgirl candidate

Berlusconi’s latest candidate is the glamourous oral hygienist who fixed his teeth
A glamorous dental assistant who helped fix Silvio Berlusconi’s teeth after he was attacked in Milan last year has been chosen as a possible candidate for the Italian Prime Minister’s party in regional elections next month, quoted thefirstpost.co.uk.
Nicole Minetti, a former dancer who this week happily posed for photographers in a micro miniskirt and stockings, has been selected despite having no political experience, prompting more criticism of Berlusconi’s habit of selecting pretty young women to stand for election.
Her first encounter with the Italian premier came when he was treated in Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital for two broken teeth and a smashed nose following the assault in Milan’s Cathedral Square on December 13.
However, she has indirectly worked for Berlusconi before. In her former career as a showgirl, she danced on a TV show called Colorado Cafe – shown on a channel owned by the billionaire politician.
Minetti only qualified as an oral hygienist in November, and if she enjoys success in the regional elections in Lombardy at the end of March her career in dentistry could be shortlived. That could be a blessing as last week it emerged that Berlusconi’s injuries had “permanently impaired his ability to chew”.
Despite the ridicule that has greeted Berlusconi’s choice of candidates in the past, Minetti is not the only pretty face being tipped to stand. Graziana Capone, a model dubbed “the Angelina Jolie of Puglia”, is also in the running. According to La Repubblica, she is a law graduate who has been hired by the party to help improve Berlusconi’s image on TV.
Among the other candidates set to contest the elections for the People of Liberty party are Francesco Magnano, a surveyor employed by Berlusconi, and Giorgio Puricelli, a physio at AC Milan, the football club that Berlusconi owns.
The criticism his latest choices have provoked will not trouble the veteran politician. Last year he survived a string of allegations about his private life after attending the 18th birthday party of a model, and his long-suffering wife, Veronica Lario, announced she was divorcing him.

Courtesy of thefirstpost.co.uk