Diane Alexander is the second ex-wife of Lionel Richie, the famous American musician. Lionel Richie’s ex-wife worked as a dancer, model, and actress and she is now a 56 year-old businesswoman with a clothing line under her belt.
Diane met Lionel when the celebrated singer, composer, and music producer was still in his first marriage to Brenda Harvey. Thus, they started a clandestine relationship but the news soon became public knowledge and led to the end of Lionel’s first marriage. The musician went on to wed Diane in 1995 and they lived together for seven years before ending things. The couple have two children from their union.
Summary of Diane Alexander’s Biography
- Full Name: Diane Alexander
- Gender: Female
- Date of Birth: 16th of June 1967
- Diane Alexander’s Age: 56 years old
- Ethnicity: Caucasian
- Nationality: American
- Zodiac Sign: Gemini
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Religion: Christianity
- Marital Status: Engaged
- Diane Alexander’s Husband: Lionel Richie (ex-husband) and Dave Kenney (current fiancé)
- Diane Alexander’s Children: Miles Brockman Richie and Sofia Richie
- Diane Alexander’s Parents: Marilyn Alexander (mother)
- Diane Alexander’s Height in Inches: 5 feet 9 inches
- Diane Alexander’s Height in Centimetres:
- Diane Alexander’s Weight: 69 kg
- Diane Alexander’s Net Worth: $500k
- Famous For: Being the ex-wife of Lionel Richie
- Diane Alexander’s Instagram: @dianekrichie
How Old Is Diane Alexander?
Diane Alexander is 56 years old; her date of birth is the 16th of June 1967. Diane was born in America’s movie capital, Los Angeles, California, indicating her American nationality. She is of White Caucasian ethnic roots.
The name of Diane’s mum was revealed as Marilyn Alexander and was said to be a homemaker. Though her dad’s name never earned a mention, he earned a living as a factory worker. With that said, it is glaring that the former American celebrity wife came from humble beginnings.
Nothing is known about Diane’s siblings but there has been speculated that she is not the only child of her parents. The Los Angeles native was born into a Christian home and has maintained the faith to date.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Diane achieved her early academic qualifications in the city. However, from what is obvious, she never went for higher studies due to financial constraints. Following her graduation from high school, the ex-wife of Lionel Richie needed to start fending for herself, thus, she started doing some menial jobs as a waitress while taking dancing classes.
It is worth noting that Diane Alexander suffers from a health condition known as Lupus. On the 5th of May 2016, Diane took to her Instagram handle to talk about her battle with the autoimmune disease. The ailment can lead to inflammation in different parts of the body, especially the skin and joints. It is also known to affect internal organs of the human body, including the kidney; this type can be fatal. Diane’s Instagram message about her health condition reads, “I would have picked the other vein. (LupusSucks) (invisible disease) I have it, it doesn’t have me!!!”
Currently, the autoimmune disease has no known cure, the sufferers are only advised to manage their condition until the inflammation goes down, thus Diane may be stuck with it for life.
How Did Diane Alexander and Lionel Richie Meet
Diane Alexander and Lionel Richie first crossed paths in 1984 when they performed together. It was said to be a case of love at first sight for the couple. Lionel is a celebrated American singer, composer, and music producer. He performed his love song, All Night Long and Diane came as a dancer.
At the time of their meeting, Diane was still in her late teens and single while Richie was already married to his first wife, Brenda Harvey; the duo were college sweethearts and had been married since 1975. Lionel and Brenda have an adopted daughter, Nicole Richie.
Because of Lionel’s marriage which was still ongoing, his relationship with Diane was conducted as a clandestine affair, but that did not stop the news from spreading, especially within the music industry.
Before long, information got to Brenda that her husband was cheating on her and it led to what was described as a horror movie. Brenda started trailing her husband and Diane and once she got to know the address of her husband’s mistress, she barged in on them in a compromising position. This incident happened on the 29th of June 1988.
Right there in Diane Alexander’s apartment in Beverly Hills. She was physically abused by Brenda who also turned on her husband Lionel in a rage. As the attack was ongoing, the music superstar called in the cops who came in to meet Brenda still brawling and attacking her husband’s lover. As soon as Brenda saw the policemen, she couldn’t control herself and also attacked them and was subsequently arrested.
Lionel went on to file charges of assault against his then-wife and she was arraigned for offenses bordering on vandalism, trespassing, disturbing the peace, and inflicting injury on her spouse among others.
After Brenda regained her freedom on a bail of $5,000, her marriage which had already taken a nose dive came to an end in 1993 after 18 long years together. The couple cited irreconcilable differences as the course of their separation but everybody knew exactly what transpired. The couple’s divorce proceedings were eventually finalized on the 9th of August 1993.
Diane Became Lionel Richie’s Wife in 1995
With his tumultuous marriage with Brenda done and dusted, Lionel Richie and Diane Alexander dated for an additional two years before deciding to exchange wedding vows.
The couple set their wedding date for the 21st of December 1995 and it was hosted in New York City, precisely at the Metropolitan Club. Though the full details of the duo’s wedding ceremony were not made public, it was said to be a private affair with family and few friends in attendance.
Diane Alexander is a Mother of Two
Diane Alexander and Lionel Richie were not yet married when the couple welcomed the first fruit of their union. The couple’s first son, Mile Richie, arrived on the 27th of May 1994, and by the time his parents were tying the nuptials the next year, he was already five months old.
Miles grew up to work in the modeling industry as a fashion and cosmetics model. The self-acclaimed mama’s boy has worked with some of the best names in the fashion and cosmetics industry. Miles was part of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2018 following which he was interviewed by Entertainment Tonight.
Before the end of 2018, Diane’s son recorded an appearance on the runway of the New York Fashion Week. He rolls with some of the big names on the American entertainment scene like Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
Life has not been all smooth for Miles as he has had several run-ins with the authorities in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The American celebrity kid was at an airport in the United Kingdom when he claimed to be in possession of a bomb while slugging a security guard. According to an eye witness, it was after Diane Alexander’s son was stopped from boarding his flight for unknown reasons that the drama started. An angry Miles then told the airport authorities that a bomb was sitting in his bag which led to his arrest.
Following his arrest, Miles was cautioned and set free when it was discovered that he had no bomb on him.
The second child of Lionel and Diane is their daughter, Sofia Richie who arrived two years after their nuptials on the 24th of August 1998. Sophia grew up to become a model, social media personality, and fashion designer. She has worked with A-list brands like Chanel, Michael Kors, and Tommy Hilfiger, and has graced several ramp shows.
Before her foray into modeling, Sophia was an athlete and played soccer throughout her days in high school. When she was 16, the young soccer star incurred a hip injury in a Segway accident which put paid to be dreams of going professional with the sport.
Just like her big brother, Sofia is also a confirmed mama’s girl. According to what the fashion designer said in an interview session with Complex, she spends quality time with her mum and probably every moment of her early life. The bond between mother and daughter is so great and is evident in their individual social media hands. Sofia sent a shootout message to Diane during her 2020 birthday describing the former American celebrity wife as her favorite person.
On her own part, Diane Alexander reciprocates her daughter’s love. The mother of two sent her daughter a heartwarming message on her birthday in 2020.
Sofia is also close to her half-sister Nicole Richie as both have been severally spotted in public together.
She is currently engaged to be married to Elliot Grainge who is Sir Lucian Grainge’s son (Lucian is the CEO of Universal Music). Sofia has also dated TV personality, Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian.
Are Diane and Lionel Still Married?
Diane Alexander and Lionel Richie have long gone their separate ways. After seven long years of matrimony, Diane filed for divorce on the 17th of November 2003 and the reason for their separation was cited as irreconcilable differences.
The couple’s divorce was eventually finalized in January 2004, however, the settlement later turned messy as Diane was making a lot of outrageous demands. The mother of two demanded $300,000 monthly as a settlement.
She also demanded, $125,000 for Miles’ (he was then nine) annual tuition fee, $15,000 for Sofia’s annual tuition fee (she was then five), 20,000 for her own plastic surgery, and $75000 for the monthly payment of the mortgage on their $40-million worth mansion; this will also cover for the payment of nine household staff, cars, and animal maintenance.
Diane pegged the money for her manicures and massages at $50k, $180,000 for clothes, $36,000 for dermatology, $60,000 for jewelry, and $12,000 for laser hair removals. There is also a monthly expenditure of $15k.
Diane Alexander assured the court that Lionel won’t have any hardship affording her demands as he earns over $300k on a monthly basis. In her income declaration statement, the musician’s ex-wife said they lived an extraordinary, extravagant lifestyle and spent money like it was no object.
Even though the jury tried to get some of her demands granted, not all were honored but she reportedly made a lot of funds from the divorce settlement.
Despite their dramatic divorce, Diane and Richie have maintained a cordial relationship for the sake of their children. The couple’s have been spotted together at various locations. They were once spotted shopping together in 2011 and many of Lionel’s pictures with their children have been shared via Diane’s Instagram handle.
What Does Lionel Richie’s Ex-Wife Do for a Living?
Diane Alexander has worked in different fields. She was once a professional dancer, the ex-American celebrity wife acted in a few movies, and she is also into business as a fashion designer. While pushing her dancing career, Diane would take one modeling job or the other just to make ends meet.
Her Career as a Dancer
Diane started training to become a professional dancer very early in life as that has always been her passion. Though she started small, the Californian native later choreographed the 1990 TV movie entitled, Laker Girls and she did a very good job on set.
Diane’s career as a dancer went to a new level after she got acquainted with American music superstar, Lionel Richie. The celebrated singer, composer, and TV personality featured her in some of his best songs which saw her emergence into the limelight.
Diane was seen as a dancer on the set of Richie’s 1986 track entitled, Dancing on the Ceiling as a dancer. As earlier mentioned, she was the professional choreographer in the 1990 movie – Lake Girls. Ritchie’s ex-wife danced in the productions, Forget Paris in 1995 and Dead of Winter in 2018.
Perhaps the peak of her career as a dancer was when the Los Angeles native graced the closing ceremonies of the Los Angeles-held Olympics games in 1984 where she put up a spectacular performance.
She has Acted in Three Movies
Diane Alexander’s acting career turned out to be a brief stint as she only ever recorded three appearances. Her first acting role was in the 1990 film Lake Girls where she also functioned as the choreographer; this was a cameo role. She danced in the romcom, Forget Paris in 1995, and her latest acting gig was witnessed in 2018.
Diane’s 2018 movie role was witnessed on the set of the thriller, Dead of Winter, breathing life into the character of Maddy. In the plot, Maddy went on a mission to avenge her dad’s murder after the murderer was released from prison.
She is into Business
Diane is also part of the fashion world as a fashion designer. She is currently exploring the business arm of the fashion industry as the owner of a clothing line called, Alexander Brown Clothing.
Where is Diane Alexander Now?
Following their divorce, Diane got custody of their children and brought them up in their $40 million-worth house. Though she has yet to get married again, she has remained active on the love scene. 12 years after her divorce from Lionel Richie was finalized, Diane became officially engaged to Ventura County Sheriff called Dave Kenney, though it was speculated that they had been dating for a while.
The couple’s official engagement was witnessed in November 2015 and Diane took to her Instagram to tell the good news to the world. Brandishing her engagement ring, she captioned her post, “He nailed it.”
Since then, she has shared several pictures of her boyfriend via her socials but the couple is yet to make a move towards marriage.
