Aaron Hernandez's Fiancée Breaks Silence on His Death: 'I Thought It Was a Hoax'

Aaron Hernandez’s fiancée Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez was just as surprised as everyone else when she woke up on April 19 and learned that Hernandez was dead following an apparent suicide.

Jenkins-Hernandez opened up about Hernandez’s death during a recent interview with Dr. Phil—which is set to air in two parts next Monday and Tuesday—and she revealed that her last talk with Hernandez had "nothing to do with suicidal thoughts." So when someone called her the day he died to tell her what happened, she initially thought they were trying to trick her.

"I thought it was a hoax," she said, according to the Orlando Sentinel, "that this was some cruel person playing a trick on me."

Elsewhere in the interview, Jenkins-Hernandez also addressed the rumors surrounding Hernandez’s "purported secret romantic life" and spoke on if she believes Hernandez killed himself so that she could collect the roughly $6 million owed to him by the Patriots and NFL. Hernandez seemed to suggest that in the suicide note he wrote to Jenkins-Hernandez. Hernandez’s murder conviction stemming from the 2015 Odin Lloyd murder trial was also dismissed on Tuesday due to his death, which could open to door for his estate to collect millions of dollars that the Patriots and NFL owed to him prior to his conviction.

Additionally, Jenkins-Hernandez told Dr. Phil that she was under the impression that things were going to get better for her and Hernandez following his acquittal on double murder charges in early April.

"I felt like we were looking so bright," she said. "We were going up a ladder to a positive direction."

Jenkins-Hernandez changed her name despite never marrying Hernandez. The couple have a four-year-old daughter. Stay tuned for more on Jenkins-Hernandez’s appearance on Dr. Phil’s show.