Pixabay engagement ring
”Dancing with the Stars” alum Vanilla Ice opened about a secret marriage proposal from Madonna more than 30 years ago—and why he said no.
The two pop singers dated for eight months in the early 1990s, according to The Daily Mail. But when the “Like a Virgin” singer popped the question, Vanilla Ice got cold feet, he revealed on the “Just Jenny With Jenny Hutt” podcast on January 31, 2023.
Madonna was about 33 at the time, and Vanilla Ice, who was 24 and had just released his hit single “Ice Ice baby,” revealed he felt the relationship was going too fast.
“Things were going so crazy and fast, man,” he said on the podcast. “I was just like, ‘What? I thought the guy was supposed to that. What do you mean? Wait a minute. This is too fast. I’m just getting started here, and I’m way too young for this!’ The more I think about it, the more crazy it was.”
Vanilla Ice Ended His Relationship With Madonna Over Her ‘Sex’ Book
In the interview, Vanilla, whose real name is Rob Van Winkle, explained that he ended his relationship with Madonna after she used images of him for her controversial “Sex” picture book. The 1992 coffee table book featured a fully nude Madonna on the cover and was released around the same time as her suggestive “Erotica” album – and her then-boyfriend was not a fan of the project at all.
“That’s what ruined it between me and her because she put me in that book without my consent, without my knowledge,” Vanilla Ice said on the podcast. “I was dating her during that time, so I had no idea about a sex book, I’m doing my own thing. I said, ‘How could you do that to me? And why did you do that to me?’”
“I thought it was so slutty,” he added. “I didn’t want to be a part of it. I could have sued her. I didn’t want to. I was like, ‘I don’t need that controversy. Let’s just let it go and you go your way, I go mine.’”
Vanilla Ice added that Madonna “was not happy” with his decision to end their romance and would continue to call him.
“She would call me all the time and she was not happy with it,” he admitted. “She got upset and I had to hang up on her a few times but that was it.”
Vanilla Ice Previously Complained About Being in Madonna’s Racy Book
Getty ImagesMadonna.
While the proposal reveal is new, Vanilla Ice did talk about the “Sex” book in the past, revealing he was humiliated by the book, which featured photos of Madonna indulging in threesomes, and engaging in same-sex hookups. The book also featured a shot of Vanilla Ice in a suggestive pose next to his naked girlfriend.
In 2011, Vanilla Ice slammed the book in an interview with the U.K. publication “News of the World” and claimed he had no idea why his ex was always running around without her clothes on.
“I broke up with her after she printed that book because I was hurt to be an unwitting part of this slutty package,” he told the outlet, per InStyle. “It was disgusting and cheap. We were in a relationship yet it looked like she was screwing all these other people. I thought she was taking pictures and running ’round naked because she was like that. Then when the book came out I was so embarrassed and ashamed. It was a porno. She threw me in like I was a product off a shelf and I didn’t appreciate it.”
“That was it and I ended it,” he said.
Aside from the book, Vanilla Ice actually downplayed the craziness of his relationship with Madonna years later. When asked about his romance with the music legend, he told Interview magazine it wasn’t all that exciting. “It was just kinda boring really ’cause it was just a normal relationship like anybody would have,” he said. “To me, it’s just another relationship that was really no bells and whistles, just another girlfriend that I had.”
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