Leslie Stefanson: Ryan O'Neal Talks About Brief Break From Farrah

Former Charlie's Angel Farrah, 50, was furious when she returned to their pounds 3 million beach home in Malibu and found O'Neal inside with red-head Leslie Stefanson.

O'Neal, 55, denied that it was anything more than a friendship with the 25-year-old beauty - but Farrah refused to believe him. "We're through for good," she screamed, before storming out.

O'Neal and Farrah - soon to strip off in a one-hour Playboy video - had been secretly living apart since November. But it was her surprise visit to see him on Valentine's Day which put the final nail in the coffin.

O'Neal met Leslie on the set of his new movie An Alan Smithee Film. When asked about his relationship with her, he said: "I'm not denying it, but I'm sorry it has ended this way.

Ryan O’Neal says he couldn’t deal with the changes his girlfriend of more than 20 years was going through at the time so he found comfort in the arms of younger actress Leslie Stefanson.

Fawcett was undergoing menopause that causes several hormonal changes in a woman.

In an interview with Vanity Fair he says, “I believe Farrah was going through some kind of life change. I didn’t have a change of life. I was always a jerk. But they’re hard work, these divas; I was sick of it, and I was unappreciated. I just don’t think she liked me very much. So I excused myself, and I was lucky enough to meet this young girl. She was more a daughter to me than a lover, and my own daughter had flown the coop, so here was this replacement.”