Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito - Mayte Garcia

Summary

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Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito – Mayte Garcia

Release Date: April 24, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jeff Zito sits down with dancer, actress, and philanthropist Mayte Garcia—former wife and close collaborator of the legendary artist Prince. As the show’s premise explores celebrities' origins and the question, "What if you never got your big break?," Mayte reflects on her early life, her career beginnings as a belly dancer, her unique journey into Prince's orbit, and her continued work preserving both her own and Prince's charitable legacies. The conversation offers intimate insights into the real Prince, Mayte’s formative years in a military family, and how “almost being a jobber” shaped the stars.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Meeting Prince as a Teenager

• At just 16 years old, Mayte meets Prince and quickly finds herself on a path to stardom.
  • [05:08] Mayte Garcia: "When things are right, it just was meant to be, you know...I met him, we became friends and then I started working with him. It just meshed."

Growing Up as a Military Kid in Germany

• Mayte describes the challenges and isolation—but also the opportunities—of growing up on U.S. Army bases in Germany.
  • Difficulties: Limited access to entertainment (“one radio channel, one TV channel”), moving frequently.
  • Opportunities: Learning German, venturing beyond the base, immersing herself in the local culture.
  • [05:55] Maite Garcia: "We had one radio channel, one TV channel. There was no internet. We get one movie every 30 days…But I branched out, and I learned the German language."

Dancing: First Job, Family Influence, and Early Ambition

• Inspired by her mother’s unfulfilled dream of dancing, Mayte was bribed into dance via lip gloss.
• Became a professional belly dancer—her first real job, performing at restaurants and private parties by age 8 and in Germany by her teens.
  • [08:51] Maite Garcia: "My first job was a belly dancer...I made my money belly dancing every weekend, Friday and Saturday, me and my dad, I had my restaurant, my birthday party, and then we had it mapped out..."
• First dream: To dance in Cairo, Egypt, which she nearly accomplished with a contract before Prince changed her trajectory.

Alternative Careers: The Road Not Taken

• Mayte shares she never pursued college due to the rapid pace of her dance and performing career, but in hindsight, wishes she’d become a veterinarian.
  • [09:53] Maite Garcia: "I wish I would have gone to college because I'd be a vet right now...I love animals. I have a non profit rescue...I would have done that."

Life With – and Insights Into – Prince

• Jeff and Mayte discuss the legend and mystery of Prince: his sense of humor, love of classic movies and basketball (“he could hoop like nobody's business”), and the challenges of fame-induced seclusion.
  • Pet Names: She never called him “Prince” in private, seeing the stage persona as a distinct separation.
    • [11:44] Maite Garcia: "I never called him by his name. It was weird because I saw that as… the character I saw him as a guy...He was funny. He loved watching classic movies. He loved watching comedy."
• Friendships: Prince’s band was his core group of friends; real, trusted relationships were rare but important.
  • [13:33] Maite Garcia: "His band was his friends. Yeah. And me, you know, I would call him out..."

Performing, Acting, Teaching, and Philanthropy

• Mayte remains passionate about dance, particularly belly dance, which she teaches to all ages for its healing power.
  • [14:39] Maite Garcia: "Dancing heals the soul. I still belly dance. There’s no restrictions to belly dancing. That’s why I still teach class."
• Acting is fun but “the business of it” is tough; she loves roles that let her say things she'd never say herself.

Continuing Prince’s Legacy: Live4Love Charities

• Mayte heads Live4Love Charities (named in line with Prince’s iconic use of numbers), supporting children’s music and dance education and animal rescue.
  • [16:41] Maite Garcia: "He just wanted to help. I mean, I would see him write a check all the time. He'd never get credit for it."
  • Started as a private charity; after Prince’s passing, became a public nonprofit that needs fundraising.
  • “Love in Action” award: $10,000 grants to impactful individuals/organizations.

Living With MS

• Mayte candidly discusses how a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis changed her lifestyle and health outlook.
  • Credits low stress, a healthy diet (“grow my own vegetables”), and moving from LA to Vegas for her well-being.
  • [20:39] Maite Garcia: "Stress was a big, a big thing for me and I wanted to have an environment that was...very Zen...I am not on medication. I just take care. I eat very healthy. I grow my own vegetables and...I'm just trying to live stress-free."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fate and Serendipity:
  • [05:08] "It just meshed, you know, sometimes when things are meant to be, it happens." — Maite Garcia
• On Early Ambitions:
  • [08:51] "My real first job was belly dancing." — Maite Garcia
• If Not for Fame:
  • [09:53] "I wish I would have gone to college because I'd be a vet right now...I love animals." — Maite Garcia
• Prince's Mystique:
  • [11:44] “I never called him by his name. It was weird...He was funny. He loved watching classic movies." — Maite Garcia
• A Glimpse Into Prince’s Normalcy:
  • [22:32] "I used to shop for him...He was so traumatized [by crowds]...but then some people would just go, oh, it's just him." — Maite Garcia
• On Philanthropy and Legacy:
  • [16:41] "He just wanted to help. I mean, I would see him write a check all the time. He'd never get credit for it." — Maite Garcia

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Important Timestamps

• 04:11 – Start of the conversation with Maite Garcia.
• 05:08 – Meeting Prince as a teen and beginnings of their friendship.
• 07:16 – Early dance influences, mother's role, first jobs.
• 08:49 – First paid work: professional belly dancing.
• 09:53 – Dreams of veterinary school and reasons for not attending college.
• 11:17 – Behind closed doors: what Prince was like in private.
• 13:20 – Prince’s friends and social circle.
• 14:39 – Mayte’s advocacy for dance and impact on well-being.
• 16:41 – Insights about Prince’s quiet philanthropy and their evolving charitable work.
• 20:39 – Living with MS, self-care, importance of environment.
• 22:32 – Vivid stories of Prince’s life in public vs. private, Minnesota as his refuge.
• 24:05 – Closing remarks, acknowledgments, charitable links.

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How to Support and Connect

• Live4Love Charities:
  Visit live4lovecharities.org (with “4” as the number) to learn more about Mayte’s work and Prince’s philanthropic legacy, and to donate.
• IG/Youtube:
  Follow @celebrityjobberpodcast on Instagram and YouTube for more episodes and updates.

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Tone and Style

• The conversation is candid, warm, and lightly humorous, with both host and guest drawing on personal experience and real emotion.
• Mayte speaks openly about successes, regrets, and the real-life impact of superstardom.

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Summary

For new listeners, this episode offers an engaging and personal look at Mayte Garcia’s unique journey from military kid to international performer—and into Prince’s inner circle. It is rich with behind-the-scenes stories, honest reflections on career “big breaks,” and the enduring power of giving back. If you’re interested in the backstories of culture-shaping artists or in the very human crossroads between ordinary life and celebrity, this episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

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[Maite Garcia]

When I lost my sight, I found

[Jeff Zito]

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[Jeff Zito]

hey, it's Jeff Zito and thanks for checking out yet another episode of the Celebrity Chopper Podcast streaming on Apple Podcasts Spotify. Wherever you listen to podcasts, we're there and consistently in the top 10 of the Apple Podcast Music Interviews chart. So thank you so much for listening. You can hear all our past guests and episodes online if you go to celebrityjobber.com and you can also follow on Instagram at celebrityjobberpodcast or YouTube.com the sign celebrity jobber and please subscribe to the Substack page for bonus content. So that would be substack.com/celebrity jobber. It's like a big break is the catalyst to stardom for a lot of celebrities. What happened before fame with these people? Some may have been in another career entirely and then boom, that magical thing happens to where they're famous. So we take a little bit of a deep dive into who these people were before fame. Find out what the big break was. Of course, the first job or jobs. My guest today is very interesting because she was married to probably one of the most mysterious people that ever walked the planet Earth and a musical genius as far as I'm concerned. Maite Garcia was the wife of the legendary artist known as Prince. We just passed the 10th anniversary of Prince's passing and I want to share a post that showed up on my Facebook memories a couple of days ago. I wrote I first discovered Prince back in 1982 when the album 1999 came out. I recorded the double album onto cassette and then played it one day in my mother's car. She freaked out when she heard the song let's Pretend We're Married. She couldn't believe her then 7 year old son, me was listening to music with such explicit lyrics and when the movie Purple Rain came out, she refused to Take me. But I convinced my older sister to take me under one condition. I closed my eyes during the nudity and the sex scenes, which, looking back, really weren't that bad at all. I still know every word to every song on that Purple Rain album and one of my all time favorites to this very day, RIP Rest in peace, Prince Rogers Nelson. That was back on April 21st of 2016, I believe, the day that Prince passed away. Ten years ago, the anniversary. Who was this guy? Very mysterious. We'll find out as we're about to talk to the closest person in his life. She was a member of Prince's new power generation and his wife, Maite Garcia is my guest this week on Celebrity Jobber.

[Celebrity Jobber Podcast Announcer]

The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, give a five star rating and leave a review. Check out all our past episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you pod. What if these celebrities weren't famous? What would they have become? What was their first job? We're about to find out.

[Jeff Zito]

Well, good morning, Maite.

[Maite Garcia]

Hi, Jeff.

[Jeff Zito]

The most beautiful girl in the world. This is pretty crazy to have a song like that named after you. Do you, do you agree? Does it get old or no?

[Maite Garcia]

And it never gets old. But getting up at six in the morning and being camera ready is definitely getting old.

[Jeff Zito]

I feel you. I feel you. Great talking to you today.

[Maite Garcia]

Likewise.

[Jeff Zito]

Such a huge fan of, of Prince. I got to just lay that out there. First and foremost. I know about a lot of the charities and I wanted to talk to you about the charities, but if you don't mind, take me all the way back. You're 16 years old and you meet Prince for the first time as an adult. I think that would be kind of, of a very nervous experience as a kid. It had to be really nervous for you.

[Maite Garcia]

Yeah, I mean, but it happened so fast and it just, it, it's, you know, when things are right, it's, there's, it just was meant to be, you know, it was like I gave the tape, I met him, we became friends and then I would send my work. I was a working dancer in Germany. I was professional and I, I had a lot of gigs and, you know, it just, and then I started working with him. It just meshed, you know, it's, it's hard to, to think of it, but I guess sometimes when things are meant to be, it happens, so.

[Jeff Zito]

Sure, sure. So, yeah, tell me a little bit about, about Germany. So you, you were born in the States, but your dad was in the military?

[Maite Garcia]

Yeah.

[Jeff Zito]

You. You lived in Germany, graduated from high school in Germany. So you. You lived there your entire life?

[Maite Garcia]

No, no. Army normally tours. That's what they call them where they have to go overseas. It's with the family. I think it's three to four years. But if you go by yourself without the family, you go. You have to do, you know, overseas for like a year. This is back in the day. I don't know what. What the requirements are now, but he wanted the family. So we went to Germany, and we were there for two tours. He got somebody to swap with him because he was supposed to go back to, like, Alabama or something, and he flew to, and he got this guy to swap with him. So we got to stay extra in Germany. I was born in Alabama, and we. We did North Carolina, Fort Bragg. We did Fort Bragg and then Germany. Yeah. Oh. Because I was too young to remember what other bases we were at, but I remember North Carolina and Germany, and I remember I hated it because, I mean, now it must be much easier for kids overseas because there's Internet and stuff like that. But we had one radio channel, one TV channel. There was no intern. We get one movie every 30 days. So, you know, it was. I mean, but I branched out, and I learned the German language, and I, I. I just didn't stay up in. In our base. We. I got out and. And just kind of ventured out by myself.

[Jeff Zito]

So mom was a professional dancer when she was younger, and then she got you interested at a young age?

[Maite Garcia]

No, no, no. My mother wanted to be a dancer, but the family was not supportive. So when I was born, my mom bribed me. I mean, I loved lip gloss, and I would do anything for lip gloss. So she's like, you can wear lip gloss if you dance. I was like, I'm doing it. I don't know why, but I was obsessed with lip gloss. And, Yeah, I mean, I became a professional dancer. Not on purpose. It just happened. I was on. That's incredible. At 8. And I, you know, I worked in the United States, but when I moved to Germany, that's when I really kicked the. The. My business, which. Which is dancing. I danced at restaurants, birthday parties, corporate events, you name it. I jumped out of a cake one time. It was, you know, and my goal as a belly dancer, because that's what I was focusing on, was to dance in Cairo in Egypt, and I had a contract.

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[Maite Garcia]

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[Jeff Zito]

So is dancing your very first paycheck? Was that your very first job? Or did you have like a normal job like us when we were kids, you know, when you were younger, working at the mall or. Tell me about your, your very first job.

[Maite Garcia]

No, my first job was a belly dancer.

[Jeff Zito]

Really?

[Maite Garcia]

When I, yeah, I made my money belly dancing every weekend, Friday and Saturday, me and my dad, I had my restaurant, my birthday party, and then we had it mapped out and it's just, and I have friends who, I mean, my friend worked, Allison. She worked as a bagger at the grocery store and she restocked things and she had that job and I had mine. And I, you know, I mean, I used to help my grandmother. She worked at a souvenir shop in Puerto Rico airport. And I used to cash people out and wrap the little things, the little souvenirs and put them in the bag. But my real first job was belly dancing.

[Jeff Zito]

Well, what about, were you ever, or did your parents ever push you into like studying? Like, was college ever a part of your life? Or was you were just working so much when you were, you know, younger that you didn't have time to think about? It's like, hey, let's just keep doing this while we're young. We're making money, we're dancing. This is the dream. Let's figure it out. Now is that pretty much how you were looking at life back then?

[Maite Garcia]

Yeah, yeah, because things move. So I met him, Prince, at 16. You know, my goal was to do something with him because I could add that to my resume because my, my goal, I mean, I wanted to go to Alvin Ailey or Martha Graham in New York. My, my, I was thinking of, of that kind of lifestyle after I did my Chiral gig. But I mean, and now that I'm older, I wish I would have gone to college because I'd be a vet right now. I would completely be a vet. Yes, absolutely. I mean, I, I love animals. I have a non profit rescue and I mean, I, I, I would have done that, but at the time things were moving so fast and I was like, let's just, you know, let's just keep it going. And I, I knew, I mean, a dancer's lifestyle. Life. Life. What is it? Life. Longevity is not very long. Yeah, I mean, I definitely would have gone to school But I didn't.

[Jeff Zito]

Well, yeah, and there was no reason to, because you Met Prince at 16 and then by 18, you're in the new power generation, right? So, I mean, like, if you wanted to be a dancer and that was where you are current, you know, you are at the top of your profession. Right. So no need to think about anything else. You're there.

[Maite Garcia]

So, yeah.

[Jeff Zito]

Tell me, when you're alone with Prince, what did you call him? I mean, you know, the guy is probably one of the most mysterious people in the world. And that's why everybody, I'm sure, wants to talk to you. Like, what's this guy like? What did he. What did he call you? What did you call him when nobody's around, you're on the couch, kicking back, watching tv, you know, the normal Prince.

[Maite Garcia]

I mean, I never called him by his name. It was weird because I would see that as I had in my mind that. That was like Purple Rain guy. That was. That was. That was the character I saw him as, as a. As a guy. Of course, he was a musician. He was a genius, but he was funny. He loved watching classic movies. He loved watching comedy. He was a basketball fan, I heard. You know, I mean, it just. It. You know, when you were with him, you didn't think that until you went to rehearsal, until you went to Paisley park and got on stage with him. But as soon as he got out, it was. It was fun. He was. He was really funny. He was really funny. Yeah. I mean, normal as much as you can, because, I mean, I've seen a lot of celebrities, but there's. There's that level of mystery that he kept where. I mean, I've had people scream at the top of their lungs at the airport to his face. You know, it's not. It's not like that anymore. Now it's like, oh, wow, it's so and so. Oh, my God.

[Jeff Zito]

Hey.

[Maite Garcia]

You know, it's. It's different because it's more accessible, I guess. Maybe. I don't know.

[Jeff Zito]

I think he was probably one of the last ones, though, for people to go crazy over.

[Maite Garcia]

Yeah.

[Jeff Zito]

Because of his personality and his. The mystique and everything. And I heard the stories about him playing basketball and who did I just talk to? I just talked to one of his. One of his old producers, Jimmy Jam. And he was telling me the stories like, the guy's 5 3. He could hoop like nobody's business.

[Maite Garcia]

He could play. He's really good.

[Jeff Zito]

So did he have friends that was their friends? Not like, I'm not Talking like ass kissers, you know, those kind of. Did he have, like, real friends in his life?

[Maite Garcia]

His band. His band was his friends. Yeah. And. And me, you know, I, I would call him out. That's, you know, I'd say things like, really? You know, you can do that. I mean, it was never like, hey, this is, you know, I would just jokingly or just repeat them, and he'd go, yeah, that sounds stupid. Let me, Let me. Right, you know. Yeah. I mean, he, he had friends growing up. He, you know, it was an kind of like life. Like, you have your moments. I mean, he, he, you know, like, I have friends I haven't spoken to in a couple years, and then we reconnect and then we start talking every day and then life happens and, you know, but he had his friends. I think his band was his. Was his friends.

[Jeff Zito]

Right.

[Maite Garcia]

Friend. And Kirk. Kirk was a big friend of his. And. Yeah, me, of course.

[Jeff Zito]

So you have moved on to become, you know, not only a dancer, singer, actress. You've done all these things now. So which one, Which. Which one's your favorite? What do you like doing the most?

[Maite Garcia]

Well, at my age, I mean, I love dancing and I, I always say that dancing heals the soul. I still belly dance. There's no limit. There's no restrictions to belly dancing. That's why I still teach class. And, And I always try to get people, you know, they're in their 50s, 60s. I'm like, Girl, life is not over. Let's keep it moving. You know, maybe you can do the stuff that you did back in the day, but let's, you know, let's do what feels good now. So I, I still do dancing. Acting's fun. I. I don't like the. The. What's the word? The business of it. It's a little. It's a little too much for me. But I enjoyed. I enjoyed playing roles that I would never. Things that I would never say. I'm like, oh, my God, I get to say this, and I'm getting paid for it, you know, but is running these charities. I have Mikey Garcia's Rescue, which is a 501C3 for animals. I rescue animals. And then the next is Live for Love. Live for Love charities, we have a lot of programs. We have Live for Music, which is. We're helping kids. I mean, the teachers that are teaching these kids via zoom is. Is incredible. I mean, I have Grammy Award winners, people that played with Miles Davis. I mean, you name it. I have a great connection with musicians and that they're willing to do it. And then now with Live for Dance, where we' going to. We're going to have our first one soon and the second one, but this one's going to be really big. We're. We're going to have. We're going to have amazing teachers mentoring these kids. So.

[Jeff Zito]

And Princes has so many different charities. Correct. Like, I know there's Live for Love, there's Live for Dance. So tell me. Tell me about the kind of charitable person. Prince was a very philanthropic guy, and your mission is to, you know, kind of fulfill his. His dreams. Tell me what. What was. He was. He was a big fan of children and children's charities. Tell me a little bit about.

[Maite Garcia]

Yeah, I mean, he. He just wanted to help. I mean, I would see him write a check all the time. He'd never get credit for it. I mean, we. Marva Collins, her school for. That was for. For children school that she had. I mean, I would just slowly see it. And then when we got married, he came into my office, and he was. He told me he wanted to start a nonprofit. Like, okay, how do we do that? You know, I didn't know anything about it, and we just jumped in. But we were private foundations, so if we needed to raise money, he'd go play. Like, oh, let me go play real quick. I'll. I'll get that funded, you know, and then now that he passed, we are now a public charity, so we need to raise funds. And I mean, he. He helped hospitals, cancer centers, homeless people. I mean, band members. And people just said if it touched him and he could help, he would. You know, it's. It's a long list. I can't even tell you. And I hope maybe it'll come out one day. Of all the things and people that he helps.

[Jeff Zito]

Wow.

[Maite Garcia]

And now it's continuing that legacy. And we have a Love in Action award where we're. We're helping people, non profits, people doing good. We're giving them $10,000 to do something. You know, slowly but surely, we're growing, and we eventually want to have a Building, a headquarters where we can bring people there. You know, I mean, I'd love to. I mean, my. My vision is to take kids out of their element. There's a lot of kids that don't think they can go somewhere, so if we take them out of it and realize that they can, giving them that spark of hope is so important.

[Celebrity Jobber Podcast Announcer]

So the Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito.

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[Jeff Zito]

You know, Prince's philanthropic legacy continues to inspire many. His contributions were very underreported in my opinion. And through his charitable actions, Prince not only supported individual causes, but also encouraged a broader movement towards compassion and community engagement. What are Prince's charitable organizations and how can people help and participate?

[Maite Garcia]

Donating donate would, would be great. We're 501C3 and our charity is Live for Love Charities. Four is the number four because as you guys know, Prince is the number four and two, of course. But if you live for love charities, sorry, my dogs are, my daughter's getting up now to go to school.

[Jeff Zito]

So live4lovecharities.org would be the way for people to go ahead and, and donate to, to all these different charities and

[Maite Garcia]

yeah, and you could look at our website and see the stuff that we're doing because everything is there. You know, there's a lot of things that I want to do in the future to help.

[Jeff Zito]

So mighty you have, you, you are, you are currently dealing with Ms. Can you, can you tell us a little bit about how you're doing and how you're feeling?

[Maite Garcia]

Yeah, I got diagnosed over 14, 15 years ago. I was on medication, but I just kind of did a lifestyle change. Los Angeles. I lived in Los angeles for over 20, 25 years and I moved, I left, I moved to Vegas. I'm close enough, but not, not, not close enough to deal. And it's so, it's crazy because now people are moving here from Los Angeles so they're all coming here. But stress was a big, a big thing for me and I wanted to have an environment that was of course the dog's barking, but it's very, very Zen here. I am not on medication. I just take care. I eat very healthy. I grow my own vegetables and you know, I'm just trying to, to live stress free. I think that's a big, big factor For Ms. Is the stress. So if you can try. If you can't get out of your element, create an element that is peaceful and. Yeah, I mean, I haven't had any symptoms left on wood. And it's good. It's great.

[Capital One Announcer]

Great.

[Jeff Zito]

I was gonna ask you. Is there something you can tell us? Because Prince is so mysterious and everybody always wanted to get inside. Is there a moment. Is there something you can tell us that maybe was something personal between you, maybe you haven't thought about in a while, you haven't told people in a while? Just something that maybe could unders. Could explain the guy a little bit more. You said he was funny, like the old movies. He's a regular guy outside of Prince. You didn't call him Prince? No, that was the cat. I thought that was interesting. But is there something. A situation, something that you could tell us that could give us an inside peek at what he was really like?

[Maite Garcia]

I mean, it's funny because I used to. I used to shop for him, and I. I loved going. Going to the perfume shop at Nordstrom's at the Mall of America. And I had a friend there, and we would just sit there and smell perfumes and, you know, and I would tell him of all his stuff, and I would say, let's come to the mall with me. Like, we can go back entrance. And he was so traumatized that he never did. And I guess he. He went and the whole mall followed him. You know, I mean, so to have that stress, even being local. But then, you know, we would go to the grocery store in Chanhassen. We would go. We'd go at weird hours, but we would go. And some of the people. But then some people would just go, oh, it's just him. And I think that's why he liked where he lived, because they were used to him.

[Bank of America / Grainger Announcer]

Him.

[Jeff Zito]

Right.

[Maite Garcia]

He had the crazy cars. The electric blue car that I had, a pink BMW. You know, the cars that you just don't. But, you know, when you're there, local, you're like, oh, that's just him. Whatever. It's It. Right? So that. That's why he loved it so much, because I did witness going to Atlanta. I did witness. I mean, he. We flew. We flew normal commercial airlines. So. And this is before September 11th. You know, he. We'd get checked in. We just literally get out of the car, get in the little cart to go to the. To the gate, be the last one on the plane, be the first one out. And, you know, I saw how people acted, and I. I Got. I get why he lived in Minnesota because they were used to him.

[Jeff Zito]

Right.

[Maite Garcia]

So and I. Yeah.

[Jeff Zito]

Very fascinating stuff. And thank and look, good luck to you the rest of the way. The Live for Love Charities. So it's Live for the live, the number4love charities.org and if you want to donate my tea, great talking to you. Thanks.

[Maite Garcia]

Likewise.

[Jeff Zito]

And thank you. You know, such a huge fan, such a huge fan of Prince and the most beautiful girl in the world. I think that's crazy that such a huge song written about you. It can't get old. They can't ever get. That's very, very cool. Thank you so much.

[Maite Garcia]

Thank you.

[Jeff Zito]

Have a good day. Bye. Bye.

[Maite Garcia]

You too.

[Jeff Zito]

It's just a pretty crazy story how Mighty grew up. Her dad was in the military. They moved around. She basically had her, her formative years in Germany and belly dancer, her mother was a dancer, but nobody was very supportive of that when she was younger. But they supported Mitey and her love of belly dancing, which was actually her very first job. She said, yeah, I helped my grandmother out once, a couple times at a souvenir shop that she had in an airport in Puerto Rico and she would cash people out and wrap their souvenirs up and put them in the bag. But other than that, her very first job was as a belly dancer, you know, and interestingly enough, she's, you know, now involved in, in Prince's charities, but also has a 501c3 charitable organization, a rescue for animals. And she said that like today she wishes she would have gone to college, she would have been a veterinarian. She said she would have pursued that as a career. Looking back, so it seemed like her parents were fans of Prince, right? And they wanted to get him a tape of her belly dancing. And they managed to do that. So When Mighty is 16 years old, Prince kind of gets a hold of and they meet up backstage at one of the shows in Germany. She's 16. He keeps in contact with her until she's 18. Then she joins the new power generation and becomes intimate with Prince. The whole thing sounds really crazy, but they fell in love and got married and of course famously went on Oprah Winfrey to discuss her then pregnancy with Prince's child. And that whole cover up, there was a miscarriage. It was real heavy, real deep situation. She wrote an autobiography, the Most Beautiful My Life with Prince. It came out back in 2017 and just recently was on the news and quoted a bunch of times concerning the 10th anniversary of Prince's passing. And she talked that she never saw him do drugs. He never drank alcohol, never smoked marijuana. When he OD'd that one time and he said he took too much aspirin, she said she believed him. So a lot more on their life together in her autobiography and just a few more things I wanted to say about Prince. I thought it was interesting that she said she never called him by his name. And I wish she would have told us, like maybe the pet name that she had for him. I mean, it would have been great if she said something like snuggle puss or something crazy like that. But I think what we could take out of. I, I asked her, you know, tell us about maybe a moment and how Prince really was. I think he lived a really lonely life. And she talked about how crazy it was to, you know, go out in public. Living in Minnesota was, you know, his safe space. People didn't go, like, absolutely batshit crazy when he showed up in public. And, you know, he would go to the grocery store, they would show up at odd hours, she mentioned, but he would kind of go out in Minnesota, where in other places while traveling, she said they flew commercial. I couldn't believe that, you know, people would absolutely lose their mind. And that made him very anxious to be out in the open. So it seems like he, he lived a very secluded and lonely life, which, you know, is pretty sad. And of course, Prince, really philanthropic kind of guy, and all these charities that he has, Mighty helps run them to this day. Live for Love Charities. That's live the number four Love charities.org if you want to investigate further and perhaps donate. I mean, if her parents didn't help her get this belly dancing tape to Prince, would she have met him? Would she have been in the new power generation? Would she have married him? I mean, there's so many different layers to this story. I mean, we might never have heard of her. She might have become a veterinarian or a working belly dancer. I, I guess we'll never know. And, you know, he did write the song the Most Beautiful Girl in the World about her. Thanks so much for checking out another episode of the Celebrity Jobber podcast streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Wherever you listen to podcast, please subscribe. Would love a five star rating. And if you could, please leave a review back to past guests and episodes if you want to check them out [e-mail] Ten years since the passing of Prince Rogers Nelson, musical genius and his former wife, Mighty Garcia tells us a little bit about her story, which I thought was excellent. Once again, thank you for listening. I'm Jeff Zito, and see you next week with another episode of the Celebrity Jobber Podcast. I'll see you then.

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