MOSCOW: Seductive redhead spy Anna Chapman opened up to Russians in a primetime talk show on state television, describing herself as a "good shot" and even enjoying a reunion with her first love.
She revealed some secrets in her first TV interview: She has a passion for shooting and wants a lion cub as a pet - though she remained coy on the job that made her an international tabloid star.
Chapman was one of ten Russian sleeper agents exposed in the United States and deported this summer in the biggest spy swap since the Cold War. Russians have been waiting for her to finally speak publicly after months of teasing the media, including with a magazine photo spread and an enigmatic appearance at a Russian rocket launch in Kazakhstan where she brushed aside questions from a reporter.
The red-haired 28-year-old said on a talk show broadcast Thursday night on Channel One state television that she considers the failure of her mission a chance for new opportunities - though she declined to give details on what exactly her mission was.
Chapman stripped down to lingerie for a photo spread in the Russian edition of Maxim, appearing on the cover of the November issue under the caption "For Your Eyes Only" - the title of a 1981 James Bond movie.
Chapman said she still starts every morning with exercise: "I can't function normally if I don't do sports, it's very important for me."
Her relatives, friends and school teachers described Chapman as a very sharp and determined kid. One of her school friends recalled how she once vowed to marry a British man and move to the United Kingdom - a wish that eventually came true.
With that, a lion cub was led into the studio on a leash, and Champan patted him as the audience sang a patriotic song from a Soviet-era spy movie that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin once called an inspiration for joining the KGB.
Putin sang the same song when he met with the 10 sleeper agents after their deportation. Putin, a 16-year old KGB veteran, said the spies had been exposed by a fellow intelligence officer. The country's prime minister received a tiger cub as a birthday present two years ago - an obvious reference for Chapman.
"I don't want to wish anything negative to anyone," she said. "I'm an absolutely happy person. I very quickly forget negative things which happen to me."
The red-haired 28-year-old became a tabloid star as one of 10 Russian sleeper agents exposed in the United States and deported this summer in the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.
While the other spies kept a low profile, she went on to pose on the cover of Maxim magazine and engaged in several publicity stunts such as sending off cosmonauts from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
As usual, she offered few comments about her espionage activities or the circumstances of her discovery, which has been reported as a result of betrayal.
"It's not for me to judge, I wish for nothing negative to anyone, even a traitor. It's his problem, not mine," she said. "What happened is for the best. It's a beginning of something great and beautiful," she said.
The programme gave many glimpses into her past before she departed Russia, showing a young girl recite a poem in a Soviet school uniform, and a teenager falling off a quad bike.
Her first effort to earn, the programme said, was a pencil drawing of Leonardo DiCaprio which she bartered for food and homework favours while in an all-girls school, just after "Titanic" came out in cinemas.
The studio invited many of Chapman's classmates including her eighth grade "first love" who came with a bouquet of flowers and timidly kissed her on the cheek.
Chapman and the other spies were given awards by Medvedev but former intelligence professionals have lambasted them for their apparently shoddy spycraft in the field.
Chapman said she has a passion for shooting and wants a lion as a pet.
In Russia, she is the celebrity face of a Moscow bank and joined the leadership of the youth wing of the main pro-Kremlin party.
She says that Sean Connery is her favourite James Bond and that she admires Angelina Jolie.