Rich Paul wasn't taught "how to love the right way".
The 42-year-old sports agent - who has been dating superstar singer Adele for two years - admitted his troubled upbringing, which included his mother Minerva frequently disappearing for days at a time as she battled drug addiction and his own gambling and drug dealing, left him without "vulnerability" and unable to open up to people.
He told People magazine: "You start to build a wall up, day by day, brick by brick.
"It's like if someone growing up asked, 'What does your mom do?' That wall was put up based upon my lack.
"I had no vulnerability. In the streets you don't ask questions. Even your significant other, they don't know anything. We weren't taught how to love the right way, how to be in a relationship the right way."
Rich carried his issues well into adulthood but an innocuous question from a woman he was "seriously dating" led to him realising he needed to change.
He wrote in his new memoir 'Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds': "Years later, after I moved to Los Angeles, a woman I was seriously dating asked me about my brother. 'Why are you asking so many questions?' I said in a tone that meant I wasn’t going to answer them. 'Rich', she replied, 'if I don’t ask questions, how are we supposed to get to know each other?' "
He reflected: "In that conversation I felt so small. She was right. You start to pile up this trauma and even throughout your success, it still has a place. I had to break that wall back down...I learned a lot."
Adele has referred to Rich as "her husband" a number of times on stage and the father-of-three did little to dispel the speculation earlier this week.
The 'Rolling In The Deep' hitmaker, 35, recently referred to herself as a "wife" while talking about the sports agent being a fan of American football and her not taking any interest in the game.
She told the crowd at her 'Weekends with Adele' concert at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace: "I'm not the greatest wife when it comes to football."
Just days earlier, the Grammy winner called Rich her "husband".
The pop star seemingly updated her relationship status while chatting to fans at her show in Las Vegas, on September 16, during a segment of the gig where she walks around and answers questions from audience members.
A video posted on TikTok showed a female fan asking to marry the singer and the request prompted Adele to reply: "You can't marry me, I'm straight, my love. And my husband's here tonight. He's here."
