NEW YORK (PIX11) — Pedro Vilarva met Rep. George Santos – who he calls Anthony Devolder – when he was still in high school in 2014.
At the time, Vilarva lived in Connecticut and met the embattled congressman via Tinder.
“I would take the train and would visit him, his mom and sister. We had a very good relationship,” Vilarva, who spoke exclusively with PIX11 News for his first non-cable interview, said. “I moved to New York with him in July [of that year].”
The couple used to live with Santos’ mother, the congressman’s then-wife, and sister in a one-bedroom apartment in Astoria, in a time Vilarva described as chaotic. Vilarva claimed he did not know Santos was still married to his wife when the family moved in together.
“It was five people in that apartment. Anthony [George Santos] and I were starting to have, like, little arguments because of the space; it was very tight,” Vilarva said.
The five-people arrangement happened because Santos’ mother and sister had been evicted from the apartment they used to rent in Jackson Heights.
Vilarva said Santos proposed to him three times, but Vilarva did not accept.
“It was too early in the relationship, and he was married,” he said. “Things started to head downhill from there.”
Falsehoods
Santos’s ex-boyfriend was asked about the multiple lies the embattled congressman told over the course of his campaign. Vilarva refuted claims that Santos ever received a scholarship for his volleyball performance, contradicting what the Republican previously said during a podcast interview in 2020.
“It’s false, because he never said anything to me,” Vilarva said. “He never said anything about playing volleyball. He never played any type of sports or practiced gym or anything.”
Vilarva also stated that he never saw the congressman practice any religion, and that he is unaware of any real connection between Santos’ family and the Jewish faith.
“He never practiced any Jewish holidays. Nothing,” Vilarva said.
He did acknowledge that, over the course of their relationship, Santos had mentioned his grandmother (or great-grandmother) was Jewish.
Vilarva had a strong connection with George Santos’ mother, Fatima Devolder, and he even visited her during her cancer battle. However, he denied that her disease had anything to do with the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in 2001.
“They never mentioned anything about 9/11,” said Vilarva, whose birthday is Sept. 11. “We used to have daily conversations; I spent my birthday with them as well. I’m a little bit upset that he made such a terrible lie about his mom.”
Campaign money
Santos, according to his ex-boyfriend, was evicted from multiple homes. Yet, just recently, the congressman filed amendments with the Federal Election Commission showing that Santos no longer claims the $500,000 he loaned his campaign in March of 2021 and listed a $125,000 loan as personal funds.
“Can he show proof of that? Because I don’t believe it,” Vilarva said. “He doesn’t need to show proof to me, but he needs to show proof to the voters that voted for him. I don’t believe he had that much money. He got evicted from so many apartments, so many houses. So, if you have that much money, why aren’t you paying your rent?”
PIX11 also exclusively interviewed Eula Rochard, a Brazilian drag queen performer who claims to have met George Santos decades ago. Rochard said Santos used to claim his father was “an American rich man” who used to live in the United States. Vilarva, however, says Santos was not in touch with his father.
“He never spoke with his father, never saw his father, did not have contact at all,” the ex-boyfriend said.
Resignation
Vilarva, now back in Brazil, claims to not recognize who George Santos is now compared to the person he was when they met nearly 10 years ago.
“I don’t know anymore. Because there are so many lies that we are finding out, and people are saying that there’s still more to come,” Vilarva said.
The ex-boyfriend, who has not spoken with Santos since he was elected, did not believe the congressman would ever be elected, and suggested that the congressman step down from office.
“He does not deserve this seat whatsoever,” Vilarva said. “He lied to everybody, made everybody believe lies and got elected because of that. He needs to resign.”
PIX11 News reached out to Rep. Santos for comment.
