Jon Bon Jovi is ready and willing to admit that he indulged a bit in the rock star lifestyle after Bon Jovi skyrocketed to fame in the 1980s.
While he began dating wife Dorothea Hurley in 1980, he was not “a saint” as the band grew in popularity, he confessed in “Halfway There,” an interview special he filmed with Michael Strahan for ABC.
Still, he never let himself fully buy into his own hype.
“I got away with murder,” Bon Jovi told Strahan of those early days. “I’m a rock and roll star, I’m not a saint. You know, I’m not saying that there weren’t 100 girls in my life – I’m Jon Bon Jovi. It was pretty good.”
JON BON JOVI’S 35-YEAR MARRIAGE DOESN’T ‘NEED RULES’ TO BE SUCCESSFUL
Jon Bon Jovi admits he was not “a saint” in his early rock star days. (Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images / Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Jackie Robinson Foundation)
Bon Jovi backstage before a performance at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois, May 20, 1984. Pictured are, from left to right, David Bryan, Tico Torres, Jon Bon Jovi, Alec John Such and Richie Sambora. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
He continued, “But if you think I was ever going to jeopardize my – anything for believing the narcissist in me was real? What a stupid thing to do. What kind of excesses does a man need that’s going to fuel that fire? It’s just not worth it.”
Bon Jovi released their first album in 1984, when the singer and Hurley were already an established couple. By the time the two wed in 1989, he was, as Strahan put it, a “sex symbol.”
While Bon Jovi did not go into detail about any past exploits, he was quick to sing his wife’s praises.
“There is no doubt in my mind that this world revolves because of her,” he said. “Because of what she did to keep the kids right, what she does to keep me right, what we do together to keep it right. No doubt about it.”
Jon Bon Jovi and Dorothea with their daughter Stephanie Rose Bongiovi at the 66th Grammy Awards Pre-Grammy Gala. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
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“She’s certainly not afraid to call me out on something,” he went on, “but she’s also there when I fall. And I’m there for her when she falls. No matter where I went in my career, the ups or the downs, we went there together.”
The “Bad Medicine” singer explained that “growing together is integral” in a marriage, adding that he and Hurley “came from nothing, same hometown, same high school, same group of peripheral friends.”
The couple’s wedding was a Las Vegas elopement – no one in their lives, especially not the fans, knew that they intended to get married.
“It was holy hell from the minute we started telling anybody,” Bon Jovi remembered. “My parents, Doc [McGhee, the band’s manager at the time], the band. You think people would be happy for us!”
Jon Bon Jovi and Dorothea with their son Jake Bongiovi and his fiancée Millie Bobby Brown. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
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In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Bon Jovi opened up more about the current state of his marriage, explaining, “I don’t think that we need rules. I think it’s just the mutual admiration society. I think it’s as simple as that. You wake up in the morning excited to be with each other. And you admire each other. And you respect each other. It’s a pleasure to do. It’s a pleasure to be.”
WATCH: JON BON JOVI’S 35-YEAR MARRIAGE DOESN’T ‘NEED RULES’ TO BE SUCCESSFUL
“She’s the glue,” he said. “I’m the crazy visionary with all kinds of things flying, and the seams are all splitting. She’s the one following me with the glue and the thread and needle, keeping it all together.”
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“Somehow, I became the poster boy for a long-married rock star. But I’ll accept the mantle because I’m so happy.”
Jon Bon Jovi says Dorthea is “the glue” in their marriage. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Disney+)