Professor Green: “Millie hasn”t put me off marriage”
The rapper lifts the lid on his painful split from MIC’S Millie Mackintosh – and reveals he’s finally in a good place
Jaws dropped when tattoed J rapper Professor Green, who was raised by his grandmother on a Hackney council estate, started dating uber-posh confectionary heiress and Made In Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh in 2011.
Their relationship was dismissed at the start, with critics suggesting it was little more than a publicity stunt. But despite their very different backgrounds, they appeared set to go the distance when they married at Somerset’s Babington House in 2013. Fast-forward two-and-half years and the couple had separated amid reports she was reluctant to have children.
LEARNING FROM THE PAST
Reflecting on that chapter of his life, Professor Green, 34 – real name Stephen Manderson – feels he learned a lot from being with Millie, 28.
He tells Closer, “It’s not a case of once bitten, twice shy. In working out what you don’t want, you work out what you do. They go hand-in-hand. My experiences have made me more cautious of a certain type of person. I’ve definitely learned something from every relationship I’ve had. If you don’t learn something then it is time wasted. But Millie hasn’t put me off tying the knot again.”
But while he insists he’s over the split, he was recently forced to deny dissing Millie when he Tweeted, “Hahaha... Not one to gloat, but haha...” after her business closed.
While he’s in a good place now, it took the rapper – who has been dating model Fae Williams since late 2016 – three years to finally feel at peace following his marriage breakdown.
In the aftermath of the split, he threw himself into work, fronting a series of hard-hitting documentaries about male suicide and homelessness.
But it was an emotionally draining experience for the singer, who had to relive the trauma of losing his dad, Peter, to suicide when the star was just 24.
He says, “Three years of my life passed making seven films. And after that, I just needed to get back in my own shoes and live my life a little. It was quite a difficult three years. And my personal life [the split with Millie] didn’t help.” To make matters worse, Professor Green witnessed Mille reunite with her ex boyfriend and MIC co-star Hugo Taylor – to whom she’s now engaged – just months after their split. Pro says, “I’m not cynical about love and romance at all – I don’t feel the need to plaster it everywhere, it’s a bit crass.” The star sparked engagement rumours of his own over Christmas after he shared a picture on Instagram of girlfriend Fae wearing a ring, but he’s adamant he’s not proposed yet.
STARTING A FAMILY
He says, “We’re not engaged, but what does marriage signify? We’re really happy. She is gorgeous. I’d love to be a dad one day. I’m not broody yet – I can have them until I’m 50!
“I take life as it comes. I don’t know what kind of dad I’d be. I think I’d be the strict parent. I grew up wrapping my greatgrandmother [who he also lived with] around my little finger, so I know all the tricks! It will not be happening to me... until my child pops out and I melt!”
But before he starts a family, Pro – who has “lucky” tattooed on his neck, where he was stabbed in an East London nightclub in 2010 – is just thrilled to finally be in good health.
After enduring a five-hour operation to fix three hernias last year, the star was in and out of hospital following a series of complications, including pneumonia and a collapsed lung.
He says, “It nearly killed me, but I’m fine now. Kind of. I should have been dead but I was still laughing! I’m still here.”