It was one of the most intriguing celebrity relationships we’d seen, but Mariah Carey has claimed her romance with Australian billionaire James Packer “didn’t matter.”
WATCH BELOW: James Packer reflects on time with Mariah Carey
The pop superstar, 50, is currently promoting her memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey but revealed to The Guardian why 53-year-old James, along with some of her other exes, have not been included.
“If it was a relationship that mattered, it’s in the book. If not, it didn’t occur,” she told the publication.
“We didn’t have a physical relationship, to be honest with you.”
So how did it go from a glitzy engagement to a ghastly break up?
James and Mariah met in 2014 at the red carpet premiere of Hercules in Aspen.
“We were talking and laughing and people were getting mad at us and stuff like that. So we hit it off,” the We Belong Together singer revealed on The Steve Harvey Show.
Just a year later, the pair were snapped in the Mediterranean island of Capri and then Portofino, along with Mariah’s twins Monroe and Moroccan.
By January 2016, James had popped the question with a huge 35 carat diamond ring and the pair were head over heels for one another.
“It’s a match made in heaven because he’s unafraid of an alpha woman,” an insider told PEOPLE at the time. “He’s an alpha male.”
However after months of loved-up bliss, the cracks started to show and the couple had a massive falling out during a holiday to the Greek island of Mykonos.
“Mariah and James had a fight in Greece, and have not seen each other since. The fight was not because of any cheating allegations or excessive spending by Mariah,” a spokesperson for Mariah told Entertainment Tonight.
In a chat with the Weekend Australian, James shared personal details as to why he and Mariah ended their relationship, explaining that when he met her in 2015 he was in billions of dollars worth of debt.
The debt arose after he borrowed big to provide sister Gretel with some of the money left in their father Kerry Packer’s estate. He was also losing money on his Hollywood venture, RatPac, with friend Brett Ratner.
“I was at a low point in my personal life,” James explained. “Documenting the negotiations with my sister was taking longer than expected. Brett Ratner put Mariah and me together. 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.”
After the break up, Mariah’s overall settlement package was valued between $5 and $10 million.
The Grammy winner also kept her engagement ring but it was eventually sold in 2018 for US$2.1 (AUD$2.8 million) to an LA based jeweller – a mere fraction of what it’s worth.
Let’s hope that bit of bling finds a better home!
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