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Drake

Drake has admitted he once wanted to start a "perfect family" with Rihanna.

The God's Plan rapper and the Work singer enjoyed an on-off romance between 2009 and 2016, when he declared his love for Rihanna as he presented her with MTV's prestigious Vanguard award at the 2016 Video Music Awards.

Since then, however, Rihanna and Drake have grown apart, and during an interview with Vogue earlier this year the singer admitted she and the Canadian star "don't have a friendship now."

Drake was recently interviewed on LeBron James' HBO series The Shop, and opened up about his former romance with Rihanna, admitting he had hoped it would end differently.

"As life takes shape and teaches you your own lessons, I end up in this situation where I don't have the fairy tale, like, "Oh, Drake started a family with Rihanna and this is like so perfect,'" he said. "It looks so good on paper. By the way, I wanted that too at one time."

During his appearance at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, Drake professed his affection for Rihanna as he told the audience: "She's someone I've been in love with since I was 22 years old. She's one of my best friends in the world. She's a living breathing legend in our industry."

However, Rihanna admitted during her Vogue chat that she'd found the moment "awkward", explaining: "The VMAs is such a fan-focused awards show, so having that energy around me, and knowing the people who had received the award in the past, made it feel like a big deal. Waiting through that speech was probably the most uncomfortable part. I don't like too many compliments; I don't like to be put on blast."

Rihanna has been dating Saudi businessman Hassan Jameel since last year.