28 April 2023 , 11:16
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Motown legend Smokey Robinson has opened up about the love affairs of his life - including with Diana Ross.
Tracks of my Tears crooner Smokey, 83, admits he was married when he claims he embarked on an affair with the Motown beauty for "about a year".
The former singer of The Miracles was married to Claudette from 1959 until 1986, he then married his second wife, Frances Glandney, in 2002.
Diana Ross however was married to Robert Ellis Silberstein from 1971 until 1977, and Arne Naess Jr. from 1985 until 2000.
Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross were both singers at the Motown record label (Getty Images North America)Speaking to The Guardian on Thursday (April 27), the singer spoke of how his alleged affair with Diana went on while he married to his first wife, Claudette, whom he wed when he was just 19.
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Opening up about the alleged affair, that went on during his 27-year-long union with Claudette, Smokey candidly said: "I was married at the time. [Ross and I] were working together and it just happened. But it was beautiful."
He then gushed: "She's a beautiful lady, and I love her right til today. She's one of my closest people. She was young and trying to get her career together.
"I was trying to help her. I brought her to Motown, in fact. I wasn't going after her and she wasn't going after me. It just happened."
In 2017 they attended the AMAs together with Berry Gordy (WireImage)
Smokey has been married twice (Getty Images North America)Addressing how their alleged love affair ended, Smokey lifted the lid on how it all came to a head.
"After we'd been seeing each other for a while, Diana said to me she couldn't do that because she knew Claudette, and she knew I still loved my wife.
He then urged that he did love his wife "very much" before touching on how it was Diana that taught him how complex love was.
Speaking to the paper, he spoke of how he learned the "taboo" of how we are "capable of loving more than one person at the same time".
Mirror has contacted Diana's representative for comment.
Smokey, whose real name is William Robinson Jr., was born in February 1940.
Known for being a singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director in America, he was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group The Miracles.
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Retiring from the group in 1972, he returned to music a year later, but this time as a solo artist.