When Kanye West Revealed How and Why He Instantly Fell for His Ex-Wife Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian’s longest marriage to date has been with the controversial rapper Kanye West . The former couple tied the knot in May 2014 in a private ceremony in the presence of 200 guests. Although they began dating in 2011, welcomed their firstborn North West , and got engaged in 2013 followed by marriage the next year, according to Ye, he had eyes on the reality star for much longer.

In a 2013 radio interview with On Air With Ryan Seacrest, West revealed, “I just knew I wanted her to be my girl for a long time. I remember I saw a picture of her and Paris Hilton , and I remember telling my boy, Have you seen that girl Kim Kar-dijon?” Apparently, the photograph that Ye was talking about was clicked in 2006 when Kardashian was known as Hilton’s stylist and friend, as per Daily Mail.

Kardashian and Hilton’s friendship dates back to their pre-school days as the two Hollywood divas grew up together in Los Angeles. The heiress and the TV personality’s bond was first documented in 2003 on Hilton and Nicole Ritchie’s reality show The Simple Life . The image that Ye mentioned was taken at Sydney, Australia’s iconic Bondi Beach when the KUWTK star was working as Hilton’s assistant. The girls were captured swimming, sunbathing, and twinning in their matching Louis Vuitton metallic Alma tote bags during their summer getaway in 2006.

While Ye and Kardashian first publicly acknowledged their relationship in 2012, as per his own account, he was smitten by her after looking at those pictures. For the SKIMS mogul, however, it began as a friendship for nearly six to seven years before they hit it off romantically. In fact, in a 2012 song Cold , the rapper sang lyrics that cemented his claims, And I’ll admit, I had fell in love with Kim / Around the same time she had fell in love with him , (by him, West means her husband Kris Humphries ), as per TIME.

When Kardashian married NBA player Humphries in August 2011, she broke many hearts, including her then-good friend West. In an interview with Big Boy on Real 92.3 , the Hulu star recalled she knew that her notorious 72-day romance hurt Ye’s feelings so she hid her wedding ring from him.

“You know, I f**ked up,” admitted Kardashian. “And went a different direction and realized that I f**ked up pretty soon. What was crazy was — I’ve never told this story before — so I’m presenting an award… and Kanye was nominated. So I see him backstage. We ended up both at the Soho House, and he sat at my table, and I had my big ring on because I was married.”

“So, I’m talking with my ring, and I talk with my hands a lot, so I’m talking, and I just see him looking at my ring, and his face would just like get heartbroken. So I sat on my hand for the rest of the dinner and spoke like this, with one hand,” she explained.

However, she quickly rebounded and got married to West and together they welcomed four kids together. But, unfortunately, their relationship too didn’t pass the test of time.