Source: Walter McBride / Getty
Smokey Robinson is dishing out details about his affair with Diana Ross during their Motown days.
The Miracles frontman said his romance with Ross happened when he was married to his first wife, Claudette Rogers Robinson.
“Well, it lasted, uh, probably longer than it should. ‘Cause I was married at the time,” Smokey said of the affair with a laugh. “Yeah, that happened later. After I got married… That’s when that started.”
Robinson recalled being unaware of Ross’ talent while the two grew up together in the same Detroit neighborhood. The “Cruisin” singer explained elsewhere in his interview with DJ VLAD that he only learned of Ross’ vocal ability once she moved away.
After Ross asked Robinson to hear her girl group sing and help them get signed to Motown, her trio would go down in history as The Supremes.
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Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross’ Relationship
Ross has publicly acknowledged her close bond with Robinson throughout the decades.
“I lived on the north side of Detroit,” Ross told Andy Warhol during a 1981 chat for Interview Magazine. “Right down the street from me, there was a young man by the name of Smokey Robinson. I was very proud to live down the street from him because he was our only celebrity in town. He was singing with The Miracles.”
Ross shared more about her relationship with Robinson in her 1993 memoir, Secrets of A Sparrow.
The songstress said the two were “the best of friends” and Robinson was “like a mentor” to her.
The “Endless Love” singer also shared that Robinson “took a special interest” in her.
During the late ’60s and early ’70s Ross also had a romantic relationship with Motown founder Berry Gordy — with whom she shares her eldest child, Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein.
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