In a new documentary, Ex U.S President Bill Clinton has said that his extramarital affair with his secretary, Monica S. Lewinsky – that led to his impeachment in 1998 – was a way of “managing my anxieties.”

He makes the claims in an interview featured in the new documentary series that will air on Hulu about his wife Hillary Clinton, called ‘Hillary’, where the former First Lady and Secretary of State candidly reveal that in the aftermath of the scandal the couple underwent ‘painful’ marriage counselling.

When asked by the director, Nanette Burstein, why he engaged in an affair and whether he weighed the risks.

“Nobody sits down and thinks, ‘I think I’ll take a really irresponsible risk,’” Mr Clinton says.

“It’s bad for my family, bad for my country, bad for the people who work with me.”

He says that he was under enormous pressure, but that his actions were inexcusable.

“You feel like you’re staggering around — you’ve been in a 15-round prizefight that was extended to 30 rounds, and here’s something that’ll take your mind off it for a while.

Everybody’s life has pressures and disappointments and terrors, fears of whatever, things I did to manage my anxieties for years,” he added.