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'Dirty Dancing' star Jennifer Grey calls her past relationship with Johnny Depp a 'bonfire': 'There was some heat'

Jennifer Grey and Johnny Depp.
Jennifer Grey and Johnny Depp. Cindy Ord/Getty Images; Rich Fury/Getty Images
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The "Dirty Dancing" star Jennifer Grey gave a new interview in which she discussed her past relationship with Johnny Depp.

"There was some heat. It was a fucking bonfire," she told People magazine while promoting her coming memoir, "Out of the Corner." "It was literally like, 'Are you fucking kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? I've never seen a guy like this.'"

Grey and Depp were together for about a year following her engagement to her fellow "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" costar Matthew Broderick.

Jennifer Grey
Grey.  Amy Sussman / Getty Images

In 1987, the year "Dirty Dancing" premiered, Broderick and Grey got into a car crash in Ireland that killed two people, according to The New York Times.

"We were so young. And there's not a week that goes by that I don't think about it. That I don't think about the families. That I don't think about Matthew," she told the Times recently. "It's just in me. It's part of my topographical map, the landscape of my life."

Their relationship couldn't survive the tragedy and Grey moved on to Depp, who was introduced to her by her agent.

"If a mirage could have been a person in the summer of 1988, that mirage would have been Johnny Depp," she wrote in her memoir, out May 3.

"And energetically, what it was like being with him, it was like, 'Oh, I'm being totally, totally compensated for the shit I just went through,'" she told People, seemingly referring to the car crash with Broderick.

Johnny Depp
Depp at promotion of the animated series "Puffins" in Belgrade, Serbia, on October 19.  Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images

In her book, Grey wrote that they were two weeks into their relationship when Depp asked her to marry him and she accepted. She told People they were often "twinning" and would wear "matching leather jackets."

"On August 12, I wrote in my journal, 'I'm in love, pretty sure for the first time in my life ... He's kind, funny, smart, moral, thoughtful, respectful,'" Grey wrote in "Out Of The Corner."

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in a scene from the film 'Dirty Dancing', 1987.
Patrick Swayze and Grey in a scene from the film "Dirty Dancing."  Vestron/Getty Images

Their relationship didn't last as Depp's career grew. Grey said he became more frustrated as he became more established as a Hollywood heartthrob, which didn't bode well for their relationship.

Grey writes in her memoir that she broke up with Depp via a note she left in his hotel room. Their engagement lasted nine months.

Representatives for Depp didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

Grey later went on to marry the actor Clark Gregg. The two divorced in 2021 after 19 years.

Depp would go on to have many high-profile relationships, including with Winona Ryder and Kate Moss. He's appeared in court in recent days for a defamation lawsuit he's brought against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

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Esme Mazzeo was a journalist on Insider's entertainment desk. She is passionate about writing stories that help start meaningful conversations and shine a light on the authentic representation of minorities in film + TV. She's known for her coverage of "Grey's Anatomy," "Sister Wives," "Married at First Sight," the "Sex and the City" franchise, and TV Christmas movies. She has bylines in Vulture, Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, and more publications. She enjoys covering celebrities like Sarah Drew, Quinta Brunson, Ellen Pompeo, Jesse Williams, Christina Applegate, Selma Blair, Jennifer Lopez, Reese Witherspoon, and more. Featured Articles: Inside the making of an 'Only Murders in the Building' episode with only one line of dialogue — and why Deaf star James Caverly wants to 'dismantle' the 'tired portrayal of disabled characters on TV'From exiting 'Grey's Anatomy' to making TV history, Sarah Drew is moving forward'Abbott Elementary' creator Quinta Brunson isn't writing 'The Office' for teachers — she has a clearer visionEllen Pompeo is very ready for 'Grey's Anatomy' to be over. In fact, she's already forging a new path for herself.Former 'Grey's Anatomy' stars Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew still believe fans of Jackson and April have 'earned' and 'deserve' a spinoff