Pop superstar ricky martin is playing it coy, but he does admit he'd love to get married.
An exclusive audience with the Latino legend against a backdrop of an 8 ft square bed would be many women's ultimate sexual fantasy. So when I actually meet the Puerto Rican pop star in the golden brown flesh in a magnificent bedroom at a London hotel, I'm not disappointed.
Taller than I imagined at more than a strapping 6 feet, he is suffering from a lack of sleep after flying in from Miami on his private jet at 3am the night before, but his long lashed, chocolate coloured eyes are still smouldering. Not only is Ricky decidedly hunky, he's sold 40 million albums and is reckoned to be worth ��60 million. He's also duetted with Madonna, and George Michael is one of his biggest fans.
Storming to No1 with Livin la Vida Loca in the summer of 1999, Ricky, 28, has conquered the world with his sexy Latin beat and it's easy to see why the ladies all fall for his obvious charms. Despite this though there have been question marks about his sexuality.
Ricky was overjoyed at the tribute George Michael paid him when he mentioned Ricky's name in his cover of Nina Simone's My Baby Just Cares for Me but he was possibly less thrilled when George reportedly urged him to follow in his footsteps and come out of the closet. So what about all these rumours?
'There's not a lot I can do about that', he says wriggling in his seat slightly.
'I guess these rumours were started by people who don't have a life, or perhaps because they want me to be like them and I'm not. I try not to pay attention to any of these allegations. I could have been married with kids or have 27 girlfriends, and if people still want to go round saying I'm gay they will.
'Whether I've been with a cow, a broom, an aeroplane or a woman, it's no-one's business. I don't think I should have to tell anyone if I am gay or not, or who I've slept with or not. Sure I have a big gay following, but when I'm singing I don't have girls or boys or horses or grandparents in mind - my music is for everyone'.
Certainly Ricky's only public love interest has been with beautiful. prominent women. His ten-year relationship with Mexican TV presenter Rebecca De Alba ended in July last year due, he claims, to their work commitments. Another suggestion was that Rebecca reacted jealously when Ricky recorded the duet, Be Careful, with Madonna. Prior to that, Ricky dated stunning Brazilian model and actress Adriana Biega, who appeared in Me, Myself and Irene with Jim Carrey.
'Four years ago, I came close to getting married', he admits. 'So close that I went with my father to a store to buy the engagement ring. I suddenly turned to him and said, 'you know what Dad forget it. I can't do this' To which he replied 'Oh, you're crazy my son. OK let's go'.
The girl in question didn't even know I'd planned to buy her a ring, although she found out later through someone else, so it wouldn't be fair to name her'.
The other rumour circulating about Ricky, which seems to contradict the one that he's gay, is that he is actively looking for a wife. His answer to this query is more clear cut. 'I'm not ready for marriage yet,' he says. 'I'll be 29 on Christmas Eve, but in my culture that's old for a man to settle down. Guys back home usually marry at 20. By the time they're 26, they're divorced and start all over again. So my plan is to step out of that mindset and live a bit.
'I'm single now but eventually I would definetly like to get married. I seem to be attracted to the woman who doesn't look at me, the one who ignores me, the one with attitude. At school, I remember this girl who never liked me and I was so in love with her. I like a woman who is a challenge, with a strong personality, a stubborn, focused woman who knows what she wants and how to get it, a woman who teaches me and will make me fly.'
'Perhaps I'd like to marry someone who's as intense as my mother, who's honest and tells it like it is. But a contolling woman, never. I'm Latin remember. My childhood was wonderful because of my relationship with my mother. She taught me how to respect family and I'd like to pass on what I learnt from her to my children one day.'
'A woman's age doesn't matter,' he continues. 'It's brains that are a turn-on, and a great pair of legs helps. I find motherhood attractive too. Some women won't get pregnant because they're afraid of spoiling their figures, but that's silly. A pregnant woman is beautiful. I have a thing about women's toes, too. I massage them and then ...well I'll leave the rest to your imagination.'
After such a defiant declaration, it's difficult to understand how these rumours originated. Yet Ricky - who uses facials, pedicures and manicures to keep himself looking good - admits his image as a sex symbol hasn't always rested easily on his broad shoulders.
'I feel great abut this now, but it used to be a problem for me,' he says. 'I once thought that being a sex symbol would give me no credibility and that people wouldn't take me seriously. then I remembered what it had done for Elvis, Jim Morrison and Madonna, and I accepted it. when I perform, my sexuality shows up and that's they way it is.'
'Sensuality is part of my spirit. When you grow up in Puerto Rico, even from the age of two, you immediately start throwing a sense of rhythm into your life. You dance salsa and the salsa is the couple - the couple is the ritual of love. You ask me if I get turned on when I dance. My reply to you is that if you're not turned on, you can't dance'
Spoken in his soft, Spanish-American accent, this seems as steamy as one of his pop videos. His new album, Sound Loaded, is full of suggestive dance tracks, such as his latest single, She Bangs. But what exactly does it mean?
'I think 'She Bangs' means the same all over the world.' he says coyly. 'OK maybe in the UK there's a more intense feeling to it. It's also about not being judged and not judging anyone.'
Ricky was born Enrique Martin Morales on Christmas Eve 1971 in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. He is one of five boys, the others being Fernando 34, Angel 30, Eric 21 and 14 year old Daniel. He was 2 years old when his parents got divorced.
'I had a happy childhood,' he recalls. 'My brothers and I lived with my mother who was very tough and organised. When I told her I wanted to work in fashion, she said, 'no you're not', and that was that. She raised us boys and had to be in control but my father was close to us too.'
As a child Enrique, or Kiki as he was known, would imitate TV stars. 'I've always felt I wanted to be in the limelight, to take centre stage.' he says.
At the age of six he starred in an advert for tinned spaghetti and many more commercials followed. In 1984, when he was 12, ricky joined the Latino boyband Menudo, which toured the world playing to millions of rabid fans. By the time he was 17, he became tired of this regime and in 1989 quit the band. he disappeared to spend a year in New York where nobody would recognise him.
'I'd sit on park benches, watching the world go by', he recalls. 'I was just trying to get my head together.' By now Ricky's relationship with his father had broken down and he admits they didn't speak for 10 years.
He won't elaborate on this, but adds, 'even though he was a psychologist, he couldn't solve our problem as it was too close to home. I was very proud. Too proud. But one day I let go and said, 'Papa I love you'. 'Now we see each other about three times a year.'
After his stint in New York, Ricky returned to Puerto Rico and then landed a leading role in a Mexican musical. His solo singing career then took off and in 1994, while he was recording his third album A Medio Vivir, he was offerred the part of singing barman in the top US soap General Hospital.
The album was his first worldwide smash hit and the song Maria the first spanish language UK Top Ten Hit in 30 years. The turning point which really boosted his career in Britain, though, was his performance in tight leather trousers at the Grammy Awards in February last year.
Immediately afterwards, Madonna pounced and insisted on a duet, the first she had ever done. 'I went crazy and was jumping up and down with excitement,' remembers Ricky. 'She affected my life in many ways and not just with her music. Madonna knows what she wants and I really respect her. I wasn't jealous when she had a child by Guy Ritchie and talked of marriage. We're still in touch and now she is trying to persuade me to buy a house in England.'
With three homes in Puerto Rico, one in LA and another in Miami, such a move would certainly make sense, especially now that Ricky is as big in the UK as he is in America. In June, he won 2 gongs at the Billboard awards for Male Artist of the Year and Singles Artist of the Year, and his Latino style has influenced countless other performers.
'The Latin spirit is all about passion and giving,' he says. 'Sexuality and spirituality come from the same machine - no matter where you are from, you have it.'
