IAN BAILEY said that Sophie Toscan du Plantier was "not the most beautiful woman" he had ever seen during a recent interview for Irish television.
The 64-year-old, who is the self-confessed prime suspect in Sophie's murder, sat down with TV anchor Colette Fitzpatrick to discuss the matter.
During the interview, which will air this evening at 9pm on Virgin Media One, Bailey talks about his theory that the real killer died many years ago, and responds to Sophie's son Pierre Louis Baudey-Vignaud's recent appearance on The Late Late Show with Ryan Tubridy.
Pierre Louis appealed for information about his mother's murder, stressing to the Irish people that you "have a murderer living among you".
While watching Ms du Plantier’s son make his appeal, Bailey said he felt "like crying".
"I watched it on Friday night and it’s deeply sad. It’s sad for him. I know he believes I murdered her. I had nothing to do with it, the only thing I can do is to keep doing what I’ve been doing and hope and pray that the truth will come out," he said.
"He believes that the killer is still alive. I have my own theory that the killer is actually dead."
Bailey was later asked what he thought about Sophie, a woman he claims he's never met.
"All I know are from the photographs that I've seen of her and to my eye she wouldn't have been necessarily the most beautiful, but she was attractive, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Bailey said.
The Manchester-born journalist also talks about how the murder accusations have haunted him for 25 years and led to some "really, really low, dark periods".
He also addresses the recent documentary series on the murder case, Jim Sheridan's Murder At The Cottage, and Sophie: A Murder in West Cork on Netflix. According to Bailey, both series are biased.
Tune in at 9pm on Monday night to catch Ian Bailey: The Big Interview.
