Larry Birkhead likened his romance with Anna Nicole Smith to a “cult” in a rare podcast interview.
The photographer opened up to Bunnie Xo’s “Dumb Blonde” listeners Monday about spending time at the late model’s home — along with her attorney Howard K. Stern.
“It kind of felt a little cult-like, like we were in some kind of cult,” the 53-year-old said when Bunnie Xo, 46, speculated that the lawyer was “a little bit in love” with his client.
Birkhead noted that he resisted becoming just a member of Smith’s “entourage.”
He explained, “I maintained independence [or] I tried to as far as I could. I still worked and did my own thing. I wasn’t asking her for money, that kind of stuff.
“The people in the house, they were having their bills paid,” Birkhead continued. “But at the same time, people in the house were working for her.”
He recalled Stern working “tirelessly” for the actress and acting like “a father figure” to her son, Daniel — but went on to rail against Stern for how he allegedly “stepped into [Birkhead and Smith’s] relationship territory” and “became involved.”
Birkhead claimed that while Stern “didn’t have a room” in Smith’s home, he slept on the couch below their bedroom.
He accused the attorney of “stay[ing] around” to try and “figure out what [they] were doing” daily.
Birkhead also described how “difficult” it was to date Smith for two years while she kept their romance under wraps.
He remembered Smith portraying herself as an “available goddess that people desired to be with.”
The “Anna Nicole Show” star “projected” this as “part of her image” to fans, Birkhead said.
He and Smith did not go public with their relationship until after the latter died in February 2007 — and Stern subsequently claimed to be the father of her daughter, Dannielynn.
After DNA proved Birkhead’s paternity, he went on to raise the now-18-year-old as a single dad.
Birkhead has posted rare photos of the teen over the years, including Dannielynn rewearing her late parent’s jewelry and iconic dress last year.
In a 2017 “20/20” special, Birkhead detailed his decision to raise Dannielynn out of the spotlight.
“People think she has got millions and millions of dollars,” he told viewers. “If Dannielynn is to inherit anything via her mom that she was entitled to, so be it, but it’s not like we’re sitting around waiting for one thing to happen.”
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