http://www.bvnewswire.com/2011/02/14/20-questions-eric-benet/

BV: You're engaged to Manuela Testolini. 'Halle's Ex is Engaged to Prince's Ex' was the story, but you two are your own people. Is it safe to say that you're first marriage was full of drama?
EB: I think you can get away with saying there was drama there.

BV: How did you meet your new fiancée?
EB: Before I was somebody's ex and before she was somebody's ex, we were just Eric and Manuela, and I think that we just complement each other in so many ways. We met four and a half years ago and started dating shortly after, and she has an incredible heart. Some people try to put the spotlight on themselves and she's always trying to put the spotlight on children who need backpacks for school, and she's just a loving, beautiful person. It was very easy to fall in love with her.

BV: How did you propose?
EB: There's a song on my record called 'Never Want to Live Without You.' It's actually my second single after 'Sometimes I Cry.' I held off letting her hear that song because I had special plans for that song. We were having a little dinner one night, and we were talking about our relationship and our future, and I just started singing 'Never Want to Live Without You' to her and after I finished singing the song, I asked her to marry me. I'm really looking forward to what the future holds for us.

BV: Are there things that you are taking with you into your new marriage that you've learned from your first marriage to Halle Berry?
EB: I'm going to take a greater appreciation for honesty into this relationship, starting with being honest with myself. I learned a powerful lesson. I think before when I was in a relationship, if there was something I wasn't getting, I would sweep it under some rug in the back of my mind and deal with it on my own. After doing that for a while, that had a very bad outcome. One of the beautiful things about our relationship is she is very open about what she wants and expects. I've done the same with her, and we meet each other on common ground.

BV: Is this easier than having a relationship where you don't have a microscope of paparazzi watching you? You two have been together for years, and a lot of people had no idea.
EB: I love the fact that we have been able to go under the radar. I think superstardom has its perks, but it definitely has its disadvantages. My name hasn't been at the top of the charts long enough for the people who care about me taking the garbage out or having a coffee at Starbucks. I prefer them not to. It's been really cool. It's not a conducive thing for a relationship to be in a fishbowl for everybody to monitor every move you make. It will make you crazy. In the last relationship, it made me a little crazy, and this is much better.

So now artists are considered associated for banging one of Prince's ex's? Guess that means Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx are practically paisley now!

HonestMan13 said:

So now artists are considered associated for banging one of Prince's ex's? Guess that means Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx are practically paisley now!

So true man.

[Edited 2/16/11 11:41am]