The ANNA NICOLE SMITH "gold-digging" trial is set to be rocked by claims that the ex-stripper had a three-year lesbian affair.

A shock testimony by SANDI POWLEDGE will tell how Anna slept with her while she was married to Texan oil billionaire J HOWARD MARSHALL.

The claim could destroy 32-year-old Anna's demand for at least half her late husband's fortune. The ex-PLAYBOY model, who married Marshall when she was 25, has been locked in a battle to get money from his estate since his death in 1995. She was awarded $480 million (£320 million) earlier this week.

Meanwhile Sandi will be a key witness for Marshall's 61-year-old son PIERCE, who is trying to stop Anna getting her hands on the money. In an interview she says Anna refused to sleep with her husband on her wedding night, claiming she had a modelling assignment. She also claims Anna paid to keep her in a bungalow hear her home and they would make love in a four-poster bed nicknamed the "Pearly Gates" - and Marshall would phone while they were in bed and Anna calmed him with "baby talk".

Sandi says, "I am Anna Nicole's best kept secret. Howard thought I was just a friend. Anna told me Howard couldn't manage sex but she certainly made him happy."

The next stage of the court battle begins in Houston, Texas on Monday (02OCT00).

(JXH/WNTMI/RGS)

Source: WENN