Mariah Carey has revealed that she left former fiancé James Packer out of her new memoir because they didn’t have a ‘physical’ relationship.
Years after rumours first circulated that the pair didn’t consummate their 18-month romance, nine of which they spent engaged, the 50-year-old singing superstar told The Guardian that theirs was a relationship that ‘didn’t matter’.
When asked why the Australian billionaire didn’t make an appearance in The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the star said: ‘If it was a relationship that mattered, it’s in the book. If not, it didn’t occur… We didn’t have a physical relationship, to be honest with you.’
Revelation: Mariah Carey has revealed that she left former fiancé James Packer out of her new memoir because they didn’t have a ‘physical’ relationship
Elsewhere in her interview, the New York native addressed the persistent ‘diva’ and ‘high-maintenance’ tags that have followed her for much of her career, thanks in large part to her taste for the finer things in life.
‘You know what? I don’t give a s**t. I f***ing am high-maintenance because I deserve to be at this point. That may sound arrogant, but I hope you frame it within the context of coming from nothing. If I can’t be high-maintenance after working my ass off my entire life, oh, I’m sorry – I didn’t realise we all had to be low-maintenance.’
When asked if she minded being called a diva, the Grammy winner responded: ‘No! Who the f**k cares? Honestly! “Oh my God, they’re calling me a diva – I think I’m going to cry!” You think in the grand scheme of things in my life that really matters to me, being called a diva? I am, bitches, that’s right!’
Ex: The exes first met in 2013, before subsequently embarking on a romance in 2015. Their engagement was announced in January 2016, but their romance ended several months later
While her ill-fated relationship with Packer, 53, didn’t make the cut for her book, her night of passion with baseball star Derek Jeter, 46, did, as she revealed that he was the second man that she’d been intimate with, after her first husband Tommy, 71.
Carey writes in her tell-all tome: ‘Everything was so new and sweet, down to the smooth texture of his honey-dipped skin. It was how it was supposed to feel.’
Yet it was not meant to last, as Carey said ‘DJ was a love in my life, not of my life’.
Nick Cannon, 39, has previously revealed that he wasn’t intimate with the star until they tied the knot in 2008, following a whirlwind romance – and it is believed that she also wanted to wait until nuptials were exchanged when it came to Packer.
Mariah and twice-divorced billionaire Packer were introduced to one another by Hollywood producer Brett Ratner in late 2013 at Packer’s Aspen, Colorado, home.
Ouch: When asked why the Australian billionaire didn’t make an appearance in The Meaning of Mariah Carey, she told The Guardian, ‘If it was a relationship that mattered, it’s in the book’
They next met up in July 2014 at a Los Angeles film premiere, again with Ratner, and hit it off immediately.
Before the relationship became public Carey and her twins Monroe and Moroccan joined Packer in May 2015 on his yacht Arctic P for a Mediterranean cruise.
They were not photographed together until June 2015 when they were seen holding hands on the Italian island of Capri.
Packer proposed on January 21, 2016 at a New York restaurant, getting down on one knee to present a 35-carat engagement ring with plans to marry in Bora Bora on March 1 of that year.
According to Packer there were ‘problems’ negotiating a pre-nuptial agreement which it has been reported could have benefited Carey up to $30million.
Fateful meeting: Mariah and twice-divorced billionaire Packer were introduced to one another by Hollywood producer Brett Ratner in late 2013 at Packer’s Aspen, Colorado, home
In 2017 Packer made his first public comments on the breakdown of his relationship with Carey, telling The Australian: I was at a low point in my personal life.
‘She was kind, exciting and fun. Mariah is a woman of substance. She is very bright. But it was a mistake for her and a mistake for me.’
When Carey was questioned over Packer’s whereabouts in early 2017 she said: ‘I don’t know where the motherf***er is’.
In March 2018 she told People magazine: ‘I wonder what I was thinking… The whole situation was a whirlwind. But I wish him the best.’
Packer had a similar message for Carey when he spoke to Australia’s Nine Entertainment late last month. ‘I wish her well,’ he said.
Book: Carey writes in her memoir about her brief affair with baseball star Derek Jeter (left, in 1998). Her toxic marriage to Sony boss Tommy Mottola (right, in 1996) also features in the book
Friendly exes: The star shares nine-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with her ex-husband Nick Cannon, to whom she was married for eight years until 2016. Pictured in 2018