Jermaine Dupri, boyfriend to music legend and pop queen Janet Jackson, recently discussed with Access Hollywood many things about the couple’s relationship. The article follows below:

Janet Jackson and her man, rapper-producer Jermaine Dupri, have been turning heads in New York City recently during Fashion Week.

Now, Jermaine is opening up to Access Hollywood about the woman who stole his heart.

“We were friends for a long time and I did a remix for her,” Dupri told us. “We would go to dinner every once in a while and there were always friends there so it wasn’t like a date or nothing.”

But Jermaine said, that before long, him and Janet got closer.”We got close enough to know that if something ever was to happen, we would be cool and I guess it just kept, I don’t know, we just started going out more and more. And it just happened,” he continued.

The two-year romance with one of pop music’s most recognizable ‘T and recently controversial ‘T stars has long been a source of speculation.

When Janet sported a huge rock on her finger during the Spring, the engagement rumors began to swirl. Then, there was even more gossip when she was spotted at a fashion show last week without it.

But Jermaine quickly put any rumors to rest.

“She switches jewelry all the time. I don’t know. But no, we’re not engaged,” he insists.

While the two are not engaged, they are still totally committed to each other. And comfortable enough to take Janet to a strip club.

“She wanted to go -and I felt if I didn’t take her, she was going to think I was hiding something,” Jermaine explained. “It is what it is. We go. We spend money. They dance. They take off their clothes. We go home.”

But don’t get the wrong idea about Jermaine. This soft-spoken southerner is the first one to step up and defend his lady’s honor, as was the case in February after Janet’s notorious “malfunction” ‘T which is still a sore spot today.

“I don’t want to see this, but I do ask the question: If someone performs at one of those Super Bowl events and gets hurt, I wonder if they would make such a fuss out of it,” Jermaine contends. “I don’t think so. I think they’d go straight to commercial. You would hear it on your show and you’d hear it on MTV maybe, but would it make national news? I doubt it.”