Raffaella Carrà planned adopted son's legal guardianship after cancer diagnosis

Gian Luca Pelloni, the adopted son and personal assistant of the late Italian entertainment icon Raffaella Carrà, has revealed that the singer planned his legal adoption in April 2020. This decision came just days after she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, with the sole aim of entrusting him with the direction of her charitable foundation.

Pelloni shared these details in Rome at the presentation of the Raffaella Carrà Foundation, an event coinciding with what would have been the singer's 83rd birthday. He explained that the adoption process was kept highly private during the COVID-19 lockdown. "On May 4, 2020, the doctors told us that this was one of the worst tumors Raffaella could have, that it was in her lungs," Pelloni recounted.

Initially hired as Carrà's bodyguard in 2001, Pelloni became her personal assistant and "right-hand man." The news of his adoption by Carrà only became public two months prior to this event, five years after her passing. The foundation's presentation aimed to present a united front among Carrà's historical associates, countering what they described as erroneous media reports.

Carrà's nephew, Matteo Pelloni, also present and on the foundation's board, publicly supported his cousin. He stated that the adoption was a natural family decision, emphasizing Gian Luca's suitability to manage Carrà's affairs. "If there was a person more suitable, with more knowledge of all the systems, it was Gian Luca. From the first week we met, it was a fraternal love, so I was disappointed that, some time ago, erroneous information circulated," he said.

The Raffaella Carrà Foundation plans to launch four main programs to fund the training of underprivileged youth in dance, film, and choral singing. The foundation's artistic director, Margherita Vasselli, announced that an official exhibition, "Raffaella: courage, lifestyle and freedom," will premiere in Rome in late November before touring internationally, with confirmed stops in Madrid and potential visits to Buenos Aires.