It's quite a stretch to say this was romantic- the guy was married, and he completley denied , under oath, that he even knew the reporter!
Illicit affairs can be entirely suffused with romance (or so I've heard).
Not saying this one was - the despair of an older man being strung along for gain by a young lover can be something to behold (or so I've heard), as can the desperation of the young lover who completely misunderstands her situation (or so I've heard).
But romance (l'amour) knows no boundaries, which is why most sane societies limit its scope by law and by custom. Unbound, it is a destroyer.
L'amour est l'enfant de Boheme, il n'a jamais, jamais connu le loi (Carmen, 1875)