Priscilla Presley says she only dated Elvis Presley “in mind and thought” in her teenage years.
The actress, who was 14 when she met the then-24-year-old singer, insisted at a Venice Film Festival press conference for Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” biopic that the former couple “never had sex” when they first started seeing each other.
“[He liked me] because I was more of a listener,” Priscilla said Monday (per Rolling Stone). “Elvis would pour his heart out to me every way … and I was the person who really, really sat there to listen and to comfort him. That was really our connection.”
While calling herself “a little bit older in life, not in numbers,” the now-78-year-old clarified that the “very kind, very soft and very loving” King of Rock ‘n’ Roll “respected” her age.
“People think, ‘Oh, it was sex,'” Priscilla said. “Not at all. I never had sex with him [at the time].”
She noted that Elvis also appreciated her secrecy about their romance.
“I never gave him up in any way,” the businesswoman explained. “I never told anyone at school I was seeing him.”
The Presleys married in May 1967 when Priscilla was 21 and Elvis was 32, with their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, arriving in February of the following year.
Although the duo finalized their divorce in 1973, Priscilla maintained Monday that Elvis is still the “love of [her] life.”
“It was the lifestyle that was so difficult for me, and I think any woman can relate to that,” she said. “But [the breakup] didn’t mar our relationship.
“We still remained very close, and of course we had our daughter, and I made sure that he saw her all the time,” Priscilla continued. “It was like we never left each other — so I want to make that clear.”
The “Dallas” alum has vocalized her support for Coppola’s portrayal of herself and Elvis in the upcoming film, in which Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi play the exes, respectively.
Priscilla and Lisa Marie, who died in January at age 54, were also big fans of Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” which came out last year starring Austin Butler.
Elvis’ estate, however, has slammed the forthcoming biopic based off the “Priscilla and Me” memoir, calling it a “money grab” after the trailer’s June release.
