(REUTERS) Pulses are set to race next month as X-rated former porn queen Ilona Staller, better known as “Cicciolina,” makes a showy return to the never-dull world of Italian politics in a run for local elections.
Famed for a fondness for baring her breasts during a successful campaign for the national parliament in 1987, Cicciolina, or “Cuddles,” is back on the political scene with a run for mayor of the northern city of Monza.
Asked whether voters could expect a full-exposure campaign along the lines of 1987, the actress turned demure.
“I won’t be getting my breasts out because it’s not about them this time — it’s about more serious issues,” she said.
One of Europe’s most famous porn stars in the 1970s and 1980s, Cicciolina made her start in politics in 1979 as a candidate with an Italian Green party.
In 1987, having switched to the Radical party and adopted the slogan “Down with nuclear energy, up with sexual energy,” she sent shockwaves through the political establishment with an outrageously provocative and highly publicized campaign.
Her most headline-grabbing moment came in 1991 when she offered to have sex with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if he would free Gulf War hostages.
Regularly staging strip shows and offering bit parts in her blue movies to those who supported her, she was elected to parliament as representative for Latina, a district near Rome.
She promised to turn up for her first day in parliament in a transparent dress, but actually made a much more modest appearance in a tight emerald-green gown, accompanied by four scantily clad female companions.
She was still making pornographic movies two years after entering parliament, but at the same time, Cicciolina regularly professed her serious dedication to politics and held her seat until 1992, for the full five years of the legislature.
In 1992, she ran for reelection under the “Party of Love” banner with running mate and fellow stripper Moana Pozzi, but they failed to get more than 1 percent of the vote.
Her campaign manager Riccardo Schicchi said at the time, “We wanted to talk about love, but the voters weren’t ready.”
Now, “Cuddles” is hoping to win Italian voters over again with her commitment to serious issues.
“Monza is going to be a more exciting city,” she told Reuters Monday, adding that her goals were to turn one of the city’s landmarks into a casino and its park into a Disneyland.
If nothing else, Cicciolina, who in 1978 became the first woman to show her breasts on Italian TV, can bet on name recognition to secure support.
Monday Cicciolina said her bid for the mayorship of Monza was just the first step in a full-blown return to politics.
“After Monza, I’m going to run for the Italian parliament again. I am back, and this time it is about more than breasts,” she said.
