MTHWAKAZI RADIO         

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

When Mariah Carey tied the knot with actor/rapper Nick Cannon in May, she caught some people by surprise.

To many, her Bahamas nuptials seemed to come on top of a quick romance, but in a new interview with Elle magazine, Mariah hinted that the couple’s courtship was longer than people realized.

“We really kept the whole relationship aspect of it quiet,” Mariah told the magazine’s August issue. “Therefore, we didn’t really ‘date,’ you know what I mean? Because that would have been not quiet or private. I think we didn’t want to give people a chance to be like, ‘What are you doing? What are you talking about? This is so quick… Are you sure?’”

As it turns out, Nick gave Mariah two opportunities to consider his proposal – popping the question once on her roof in Manhattan, and several days later mid-flight.

“He sort of kidnapped me and took me on a helicopter ride. Then he re-proposed,” she said.

Mariah has hinted recently that children could be on the cards and she said Nick would make a great father.

“I couldn’t image anybody that I’ve ever met being a better dad,” she said.

And marriage to Nick has been nothing but a blessing.

“It’s definitely the best place I’ve ever been in my life. If you really look at my life, I’ve never had a personal life, or if I did, it was just wearing a mask and it was not existing, you know?” Mariah said. “I put my career ahead of my personal life because I think I didn’t know that I was deserving of both, because that was just how I always felt about myself. That was just my own insecurity and land in which I live.”