Usher famously dated Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas from 2001 to 2004 but the singer recently revealed he once proposed to her and she turned him down.
“I was a young man, and she had very specific rules that didn’t work for me,” the star told PEOPLE. “We were missing each other. I really did want to have a different type of relationship where she was there with me, and she couldn’t be. She didn’t believe that I was actually in love with her as much as I was.”
He continued, “I wanted to marry her. I proposed and she told me no. I went through a great deal of pain after that, not trusting women or wanting to open up.” He admitted to hurting her emotionally but he says he was heartbroken by her answer.
Their relationship was on-off for some years before they finally went their separate ways.
Chilli is now dating Boy Meets World actor Matthew Lawrence, while Usher married his longtime girlfriend Jenn Goicoechea just after his Super Bowl halftime performance in Las Vegas.
