Twenty years later, Mary Kay Letourneau still doesn’t regret her relationship with her then 12-year-old student Vili Fualaau. The disgraced school teacher is sharing even more details about the illegal romance — including their first kiss – but refuses to admit that she was in the wrong.

“[It] sounds young, I get it,” the now 56-year-old said on A&E’s Autobiography this week. “He was young, I get it. Am I sorry that he’s the father of my children? No I’m not.” Vili, 34, also defended his wife and confessed he was the one to make the first move. “Twenty years later, people ask how it turned into romance,” she explained. “Back in the day, I accepted the kiss, you know. I did. He wasn’t my student when that happened. For some reason, the kiss, it seemed very right.”

Vili added, “After the kiss, we kind of made it official that we are kind of a thing now.” Cringe. Well, that “thing” landed Mary Kay in prison for seven years after she pled guilty to second-degree rape of a child. While behind bars, she welcomed both of the couple’s daughters, Audrey and Georgia, who are now older than their dad was when he first met their mom.

Today, Mary Kay and Vili are still technically married, but the couple legally separated last year after 12 years of marriage. However, Vili clarified that the separation was a technicality since he is unable to start a “cigaweed” business while married to a convict. “There is a piece of paper that is filed but that doesn’t depict what is going on,” he told Radar Online at the time. “Be patient. It’s not serious as people think it is… Maybe we’re sleeping in different rooms. The paperwork that is filed doesn’t have all that information.”

mary kay letourneau getty images

A friend of the pair sees things differently but shared that they are currently working through their marital problems on the A&E special. “She’s living in hope. Mary wants this relationship to work,” the friend said. “Vili’s in his mid 30s, Mary’s in her mid-50s and you just have to relate it to anyone else you know and their relationship issues. Mary’s hopeful. She loves Vili. There’s absolutely no question about that.”

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