Rumor Mill: Marilyn says Gavin Rossdale fling was more than a one-time thing

Gavin Rossdale. (AP)

It's a case of "he said, he said" for Gavin Rossdale and cross-dressing singer Marilyn.

In a new interview with Details, Rossdale -- a.k.a. Mr. Gwen Stefani -- admits to an '80s-era one-time fling with the gender-bending singer. Rossdale, naively thinking he had a right to some kind of privacy, had previously denied the relationship:

Details: Last year, the cross-dressing pop singer Marilyn revealed that he was romantically involved with you in your teens -- an assertion Boy George first made in 1995. Why haven't you talked about those claims?

Gavin Rossdale: I think at the outset there was a sort of fear -- that was right at the beginning of Bush, and I didn't want it to be part of it. It felt like a cheap shot, so I was like, "I'm not getting involved." I've never wanted to appear closed about it. It's not something I've talked about really because it's always been in the glare of a tabloid world. It's just one of those things: Move on. When you're 17, Jesus Christ. I don't think there's anything strange about any form of -- you're learning about life. It's a part of growing up. That's it. No more, no less.

Details: So it was just a one-time experimentation?

Gavin Rossdale: Yeah. That was it. You have to know what you like, and I know what I like.

Marilyn (real name Peter Robinson), however, begs to differ, claiming the fling was instead a five-year relationship.

"I am pleased that Gavin is finally able to be honest about our relationship," Marilyn tells InTouch in a new interview. "I just wish he could have come to terms with this 15 years ago."

He goes on:

"He was the love of my life. We were together five years, but it felt like 40. He was just becoming successful in America. I agreed to lie against every grain of my being."

Sources: InTouch, Details, OK!