Where Is Prince's Ex Manuela Testolini Today?
So many things about the late Prince Rodgers Nelson are a mystery — which seems to be just the way he liked it. We don't know a ton about his love life, but we do know that from 2001 to 2005 he was married to a much younger Canadian businesswoman named Manuela Testolini. She is 18 years younger than the late musician and from Toronto, so how did their paths cross? It turns out, Testolini and Prince met when she was seeking funding for a nonprofit she was consulting for. Prince's Love 4 One Another foundation was one of the organizations she reached out to, Rolling Stone reported. Fate intervened, Prince's charity responded, they met, and the rest is history.
While Testolini was married to Prince, she went by the name Manuela Testolini Nelson, People reported. The marriage was marked by lavish spending, as was revealed in the divorce documents obtained by the StarTribune. Testolini said, "We had accounts at boutiques including Gucci, Versace and Valentino. We had accounts at Saks. There was never any restriction on [Prince's] or my spending."
The divorce documents also revealed that the couple threw huge parties for the Golden Globes, Oscars, and Grammys. For those occasions, Testolini reportedly hired a stylist to do her hair and makeup for $5,000. The couple typically spent $50,000 per party on food and drink, the StarTribune reports.
Prince and Testolini separated in 2005 and divorced in May 2006, according to People. Today, Testolini is happily remarried to another celebrity's ex-husband.
After splitting with Prince, Manuela Testolini married Eric Benet
You may recognize the name of Manuela Testolini's current husband, as he was Mr. Halle Berry for a number of years. Yes! Manuela Testolini has been married to Eric Benet since July 31, 2011, according to ABC News. Benet met Berry in 1997 at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, according to People. They married in 2001 and separated in 2003.
Testolini and Benet started dating in 2008 after meeting at a party during Los Angeles Fashion Week. Benet knew Testolini was going through a rough divorce but he didn't realize her ex-husband was Prince, as reported by MusicNews.com.
On Van Lathan's The Red Pill podcast, Benet opened up saying they'd been dating for two months when he finally asked her who her ex was. "Her name is Testolini, so for some reason I thought she was married to some Italian (guy)... I was driving her to the airport... and she gave me some other details and I was like, 'Who is this guy...?' and so she just kind of laughed and said, 'Prince'. I was like, 'Prince who...?'"
Testolini and Benet have been married for nearly a decade. They have two daughters, Lucia Bella, born in December 2011, and Amoura Luna, born in July 2014, Us Weekly reported.
Testolini is fiercely committed to charity. Since Prince's death, she's opened two schools in the southeastern African city of Malawi in his name, Rolling Stone reports.