michael jackson He may have been one of the biggest stars in the world, but Riley Keoughhe was a typical stepparent.
“I understand that my life is not normal, but it just felt normal to me,” Keogh, 35, recalled of his relationship with the late pop icon. Thursday October 10th episode of Today with Hoda and Jenna. “In hindsight, I realize it was a big deal for them to be together, but it felt like a very normal thing.”
Riley’s mother lisa marie presleyShe married Jackson in 1994, the same year she separated from Riley’s father. Danny Keogh. The two were married for two years before divorcing in 1996. Presley later married. nicolas cage From 2002 to 2004 and michael lockwood From 2006 to 2021, Jackson remained married. Debbie Rowe The two remained together until 2000.
Reflecting on her mother’s romance with Jackson, Riley continued, “They lived together, she took me to school, it was a normal marriage.”
the actress said today co-sponsor Hoda Kotb and jenna bush hager The nickname she gave Jackson was “Mimi.”
Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50. Presley, who died in January 2023 at the age of 54, opened up about his marriage in a new posthumous memoir. From here to the great unknowncompleted by Riley.
“I fell in love with him because he was normal. He was totally normal. His normal side was something that no one would ever know. It was a side of me that I had never seen before,” he wrote.
Presley also revealed that he was nervous about having sex with the “Thriller” singer, who was 35 and still a virgin when they started dating. “I think he kissed me.” Tatum O’Nealand he had something Brooke ShieldsIt wasn’t anything physical other than the kiss,” she said. “he said Madonna He also tried to contact me once, but nothing happened. I was scared because I didn’t want to do the wrong thing. ”
Eventually, Presley said, “physical problems started to arise” between the two.
Riley said in her book that Presley “wanted to be the perfect woman” for Jackson, but they disagreed about having children. Jackson went on to have children Prince, 27, and Paris, 26, with Lowe, 65, and welcomed son Bigi, 21, as a surrogate mother in 2002. Presley shares son Benjamin with Riley, who passed away in July 2020 at the age of 27, with Danny. , 59. She also has twin daughters Harper and Finley, 16, with Lockwood, 63.
Riley then became a mother herself. our weekly magazine In January 2023, the actress and her husband ben smith petersensecretly adopted a daughter, Tupelo Storm, as a surrogate mother.
“My mom was a great mom, and I think some of that definitely lives on in me,” Riley said. Hoda & Jenna. “She was much stricter than I was.”
She also reflected on experiencing “the loss of life and the birth of life so close in time,” adding, “It’s a strange and beautiful kind of experience.”
After completion From here to the great unknown Reilly told Kotb, 60, and Bush Hager, 42, on behalf of her late mother, that she wanted readers to “connect with Reilly on a human level.”
She explained: “I think a lot of what she’s going through in this book are very normal problems, and I think this situation is unusual in that it’s what she is. elvis [Presley]’s daughter and our family, whatever it is, it’s an addiction, a mother-daughter relationship, falling in love, getting married, having children, and grieving. The themes are very human, so I think that human connection is what she wanted. She wanted to convey her regrets, along with a desire to help people connect and feel less alone. ”