Journalist Monica Veloso, witness of the graft scandal that led to the resignation of Brazil's Senate Speaker Renan Calheiros in 2007, will host a show on national television, local media reported Tuesday.

Veloso will be the main star of an automobile-fan talk show, which will start to be broadcasted Sunday by the TV network SBT.

The 39-year-old journalist is Calheiro's former lover and mother to his three-year-old out of wedlock daughter. She became a key figure in the disclosure of the scandal in May last year, when she confirmed that her child's alimony was paid by a lobbyist related to a building company.

The senator was charged with favoring the company in the voting of bills, but investigations moved on and showed that he could have favored other companies in other sectors.

Following the scandal, which prompted Calheiros' resignation in September, the Brazilian edition of the Playboy magazine released nude pictures of Veloso the next month. The journalist never revealed how much she was paid for the photo shoot.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2008)