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‘It Lasted Longer Than It Should Have’: Smokey Robinson Says He Had Affair with Diana Ross While He Was Married

Posted byBy Niko Mann | Published on: | Updated on February 19, 2026 CommentsComments (0)

Motown legend Smokey Robinson claims to have had an extramarital affair with songstress Diana Ross. Robinson revealed the news during an appearance on “Vlad TV” on Monday, Jan. 16.

After discussing his childhood singing group that he began at the age of 11, the Five Chimes, Robinson spoke about his relationship with Ross. The “Just To See Her” singer said he first met Ross as a 12-year-old boy. Ross lived four doors down from Robinson but eventually moved away to the Brewster projects. He noted that she called him once she formed her own singing group in an attempt to get signed with Motown Records.

“After we started [at] Motown, she called me one day and she said, ‘Smoke, I got this group, you know, and uh, I want you to hear us so you can sign us up at Motown,” he said. “So I said, okay.’ I didn’t know she was a singer until then.”

Smokey Robinson dishes on his affair with Diana Ross while still married to another woman. (Photo by Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty Images)

After DJ Vlad noted that Ross revealed in her book that she and Robinson had once dated, Robinson confirmed the two had dated while he was married.

“Well, it lasted, uh, probably longer than it should ’cause I was married at the time,” he recalled. “Yeah, that happened later. After I got married. You know, after I got signed up at Motown, that’s when that started.”

The 82-year-old was married to his first wife, Claudette Rogers Robinson, who was a member of his group, The Miracles, at the time. The two were married in 1959 and had two children before divorcing in 1986 after Smokey had a child out of wedlock with another woman. Robinson has been married twice and is currently married to 52-year-old Frances Glandney. The pair have been married since 2002.

Meanwhile, Diana Ross has been married twice and has five adult children. She married her first husband, Robert Ellis Silberstein, in 1971 and divorced in 1977. She later married Norweigan businessman Arne Naess in 1986 before the two divorced in 2000.

Regardless, Robinson and Ross have remained friends, and he even wished the “Endless Love” singer happy birthday on Twitter back in 2018. He wrote, “Happy Birthday to my baby, Ms.@DianaRoss the BOSS!”

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