Derek Jeter on Mariah Carey in 1999: "Going out with Mariah, that's taking it to a whole other level"
In the late 1990s, New York Yankees star Derek Jeter and pop icon Mariah Carey were together. The pair met at a dinner party in 1997 and hit it off.
In a 1999 Sports Illustrated interview, Derek Jeter spoke about the hiccups of dating a global pop diva like Carey.
Derek said:
"I have to be with someone very understanding, someone who's willing to deal with all the attention. But going out with Mariah that's taking it to a whole other level."
Jeter also didn't shy away from adding how he felt he was out of Carey's league.
"She's someone who's known worldwide. I don't see how two very famous people—and I'm nowhere close to her level—would be able to deal with that over the long haul. It's too much."
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Sharlee Jeter, Derek Jeter's sister, approved of Mariah Carey
Although younger than Derek Jeter, Sharlee Jeter is a protective sister. Throughout her life, she always kept a check on who Derek was dating.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated in 1999, Sharlee narrated:
"At one of his high school baseball games I confronted this girl he was dating. I was in the sixth or seventh grade, and I said to her, 'I don't want you here, and Derek doesn't want you here.' I think I was just jealous that she was taking my brother away from me, but even now I'm really protective."
Sharlee also went onto speak about Derek's former flame Mariah Carey and how she approved of the "My All" singer.
"I ended up loving Mariah Carey to death, but I would've taken her on, too, if she hadn't measured up. People said, 'Oooh, it's Mariah Carey, that's perfect.'
"I was like, I don't know who she is. I know how she is on TV, but that doesn't tell me anything. So, yeah, she still had to go through the test, and yeah, she passed. I think she was forewarned."
Cut to 2022, Derek is happily married to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue fame Hannah Davis. Derek and Hannah tied the knot in 2016 and have since welcomed three daughters, Bella, 4, Story, 3, and River, 10 months.