Anna Nicole Smith's Pal Opens Up About Lupus  2/28/07

A longtime friend of Anna Nicole Smith has revealed the tragic former model's biggest secret - she suffered from autoimmune disease lupus.

Frank Rodriguez, who appeared on Smith's self-titled reality TV show, insists he was one of the few people who knew of her health battle, which he promised to keep to himself.

But now Rodriguez has gone public with Smith's dark secret because he thinks that's what killed her.

In a tearful interview on last night's (27FEB07) US news show Entertainment Tonight, Rodriguez said, "I just remember her telling me she didn't want her fans to remember her this way, that it couldn't get out.

"Her whole body would ache. She would just shut down, basically; she would sleep for days. It was frightening at times, the seizures. She went into seizures a lot. She'd black out a lot of the times.

"She pulled me aside and she told me that she was on medication for it. She told me her condition.

"(But now) she's gone and I don't like what I hear about her. I don't want people to remember her for what they say - that she was a drug addict. It angers me. It really, really upsets me."

Smith's longtime companion Howard K Stern has confirmed Rodriguez was a close friend of his late girlfriend, but he insists the lupus report is untrue.

Stern says, "I've been told what Frankie said, and he may have believed it, but I don't think it would be entirely accurate."