THEY say you should never fall for a close friend’s ex – but that’s exactly what Lauren Silverman did, according to Sinitta.
80s pop star admits it was painful to see ex-partner Simon Cowell and her best friend Lauren became an item in 2013 after their romance made headlines.
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But their decision to make Sinitta godmother to their son… Ericnow eight, was a welcome olive branch that helped heal the singer’s heartache.
She says: “Lauren and I were best friends. It was a bit bumpy in the beginning, because of your best friend and the person you love [getting together] – that will never be good.
“But we tackled it and I’m pretty proud of how it all turned out. They made me Eric’s godmother—and that was kind of part of our reconciliation and healing, truce and forgiveness, and unconditional love, because obviously it was hard back then.”
But, proving there is no resentment, Sinitta, 58 – who is an ordained minister atThe Hillsong Church in London — will even offer to buy the next . to be carried out wedding ceremony for the couple, who got engaged last December.
‘I’m not completely satisfied with being alone’
She says, “I’ve been thinking about wedding gifts for them, and I thought one of the gifts might be that I could marry them because I’m an ordained minister.
“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t that be fun?’ I haven’t told Lauren and Simon yet so I have no idea what they would think, but I thought it would be rude not to bid anyway.”
Sinitta dated Simon, 62, for two years with the music industry boss, until 1984, although the couple had an on/off relationship for 20 years. Sinitta was also a guest judge on Simon’s hugely successful X Factor show.
Sinitta stays close, adoptive mother of 16-year-old twins Zac and Magdalena — would accompany Simon on his annual jaunt to Barbados as part of his “harem” of exes, where she met Lauren.
At the time, the American socialite, 44, was married to a businessman Andrew Silvermanwith whom she shares son Adam16. Sinitta says: “Lauren and I met when our kids went on vacation to Barbados — she would be there with her family, and we would be there.
Her son, Adam, and my kids are six months apart, so the kids played together and we became really good friends. We were best friends.”
Time has been a healer for Sinitta, who insists she is happy for the couple now.
She says: “I think the public finds it harder to accept than we do, but people need to realize I’m not going to kill myself – I’m okay.
“I want Simon to be happy, and she’s the mother of his child, so they’re together, they live together, and why shouldn’t they get married?”
Another famous man Sinitta dated in her youth was: Brad Pittnow 58.
She disagrees with those who claim the Hollywood heartthrob has lost his sex appeal after trolls targeted his appearance on a recent cover of GQ magazine.
She says: “He’s super hot. I mean, he’s an older guy, so he doesn’t look like he did in the eighties when I went out with him, but he’s still gorgeous. And for a man of his age, I think he’s in great shape.”
I’m not quite content to be alone right now, and I’m ready to have someone in my life.
sinitta
So would she date him again if she had the chance? “Of course,” she says. “It was a long time ago, so we were kids, but let’s put it this way: if I were somewhere and met him, I would find him an attractive man.
“But we haven’t had any contact for years. We have a lot in common. We both have adopted children and our children speak French.”
Sinitta, who parted ways with celebrity agent Jason Gale in 2017 after three years together and was married to investment banking headhunter Andy Willner between 2002 and 2009 is ready to find love again.
She says, “I’m not quite happy being alone right now, and I’m ready to have someone in my life.
“I spent years saying ‘Oh my God – I’m single’ because I was always one of those people who jumped from relationship to relationship to relationship.”
But it was during a recent vacation on her own that the star realized she was tired of the single life.
She says: “It’s really weird. You suddenly know when you’re ready to meet someone because you think, ‘It would be nice to be here with someone’. Before it was the opposite – I enjoyed the total selfish freedom of being able to do what I wanted.
“If I wanted to eat in the hotel room or go to a restaurant or just stare at the sea with the curtains open. † † Suddenly you think: ‘This is so beautiful, it would be nice to share it with someone’. I am ready to share my life with someone.”
Sinitta rose to fame in the 1980s with a string of pop hits, including So Macho, but she was quick to say that not every man she met had good intentions.
She says: “I’ve always had to take care of myself. i remember when Kylie [Minogue] and I was young and we were in a nightclub in England called Double Bass, which… Steve Strange used to host.
‘It was a hard lesson to learn at that age’
“It was the late eighties/early nineties. We were in the ladies toilets and there were two guys in a booth.
“I wondered what they were doing, but they were straight guys because of the conversation, which was, ‘Which one do you want – Sinitta or Kylie?’
“It was such a shame because they were really hot models, and I thought whoever talked to me really liked me.
“It was quite shocking and it threw something into my head – it made me think, ‘I have to beware of such men who see me as a quest’.
“And it was a hard lesson to learn at that age, especially because you still find your sexuality and see how the opposite sex sees you.
“But it was also pretty grounding, so I was very protective about who I jumped into bed with.”
Today, Sinitta admits that she has to date men she may have never even thought of. She says: “I used to date people in the industry or friends of friends, so this will be my first time going out with complete strangers.
“I want to be more carefree when it comes to the dating scene, but I still don’t want to be used. I’ve never had that thing where I just needed sex.
“I don’t judge people who do, but I like to have an emotional connection with someone before I have one” sex with them.
“But even to have an emotional connection, you still have to meet people — right?
“So that’s my big thing. How do you meet people when you’re famous and older and not someone you know?
“I don’t want to date any of my boyfriend’s ex-husbands. It’s a weird space for me right now, but I’m figuring it out.”
- Sinitta spoke to us to promote the recently launched Debt Free London LGBT+ custom community hotline on 0800 808 5664. See debtfree.london/pride†
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