Gavin Rossdale Bedded Cross-Dresser Before Gwen Stefani: True Story!

Rocker comes clean about hooking up with '80s singer Marilyn in new interview

By Marc Malkin Oct 13, 2010 2:30 PMTags
Gavin Rossdale, Gwen Stefani, Marilyn, Peter RobinsonRichard young/Startraks; Tom Stoddart Archive/Getty Images

Gavin Rossdale is owning up to his cross-dressing past.

No, Gwen Stefani's hubby doesn't have a thing for slipping into dresses and a pair of high heels (at least not that we know of), but…

MORE: Leo DiCaprio: Cross-Dressing for Clint Eastwood?

Rossdale finally acknowledges that when he was in his teens, he hooked up with cross-dressing '80s pop singer Marilyn.

"When you're 17, Jesus Christ. I don't think there's anything strange about any form of—you're learning about life," the Bush frontman says in the new Details magazine (on newsstands Oct. 19). "It's a part of growing up. That's it. No more, no less."

While Marilyn has insisted the relationship lasted for a few years, Rossdale says it was a onetime thing. "That was it," he says. "You have to know what you like, and I know what I like."

Rossdale and Marilyn's relationship was first revealed by Boy George back in 1995. However, this is the first time Rossdale has talked about it.

So, why now?

"I think at the outset there was a sort of fear—that was right at the beginning of Bush, and I didn't want it to be part of it," he admits.

"It felt like a cheap shot, so I was like, 'I'm not getting involved.' I've never wanted to appear closed about it. It's not something I've talked about really because it's always been in the glare of a tabloid world."