Holly Hester Alleges Relationship with David Letterman

When David Letterman told the world about the extortion plot against him on Thursday night's Late Show, the host said he's slept with women on his staff.

In other words: it sounded very much as though Stephanie Birkitt was not the only employee to have sat atop Dave's Top 10 List... if you know what we mean!

Now, Holly Hester has told TMZ that she interned on the talk show in the early 1990s; long before Letterman was married or became a father to son Harry.

A student at NYU at the time, Hester says she and Dave went on a series of secret dates, a relationship that was unknown to anyone else on the staff.

"I was madly in love with him at the time. I would have married him. He was hilarious," Hester said, adding that the courtship ended after a year.

We can only imagine what Bill Clinton and David Letterman are laughing about during the former President's appearance on The Late Show.

Jay Leno, meanwhile, got in a friendly, harmless jab at his fellow host. When he came out for his monologue last night, the NBC star told the studio audience:

"Settle down. If you came here tonight for sex with a talk show host, you've got the wrong studio."

As we've said before, Letterman is NOT a hypocrite for sleeping with anyone on his show. As a hired, self-deprecating, admittedly imperfect entertainer, he's the opposite of an elected, two-faced politician.

Now that the joke is on the other foot, however, it will be interesting to see how he responds to digs at his expense.