May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Barbara Walters, who co-hosts ABC's ``The View,'' revealed during the ``Oprah Winfrey Show'' that she had an affair in the 1970s with Edward W. Brooke, a married senator.

Walters, who discussed her memoir ``Audition'' on the show, described herself as ``infatuated'' with Brooke, a former Republican senator from Massachusetts, according to representatives for Walters and Winfrey.

The Associated Press reported earlier on the Walters interview, citing an advance copy of the transcript of the show, which is scheduled to be broadcast on May 6.

Brooke, who served from 1967 to 1979, was the first black person elected to the Senate by popular vote, according to his biography on the Senate's Web site. He was married at the time of the affair with Walters, who was then twice divorced, AP reported.

They both believed public knowledge of their affair would ruin their careers and ended it before Brooke lost his bid for a third term in 1978, AP said.

Don Halcombe, a spokesman for Winfrey's production company, Harpo Entertainment Group, confirmed Walters' comments in a telephone interview, as did Walters' spokeswoman, Haley Rose.

Restaurant Meeting

Brooke, 88, and Walters, 78, first met in a restaurant in New York in 1973, according to the memoir, the Boston Globe reported. Brooke was separated at the time of the affair, filed for divorce in 1976, and remarried Anne Fleming in 1979, the newspaper said.

He lost his seat to Democrat Paul Tsongas in 1978 after details about his divorce, including alleged financial misstatements, became public, the Globe said. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom the following year, the newspaper said.

Walters served 25 years as co-host and chief correspondent of ABC News's ``20/20,'' according to her biography on ``The View'' Web site. She joined the network in 1976.

A voice message left by Bloomberg News for an Edward W. Brooke listed in Miami, where his biography says he lives, wasn't immediately returned. Brooke declined to comment to the AP.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joseph Galante in San Francisco at jgalante3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 2, 2008 13:31 EDT