Gary James' Interview With David Cassidy's Girlfriend
Maura Rossi



Maura Rossi is the owner of Rossi Interiors Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She also was very close to David Cassidy. Just a reminder. David Cassidy, at 21, was the highest paid solo performer in concert in the world. He was earning $50,000 a night. At one point he was getting as much as Elvis and in some cases more for concert appearances. He received 18 Gold and Platinum records, including four consecutive multi-Platinum albums. He sold over twenty million records. "I Think I Love You" won the National Association of Record Merchandisers Award for being the biggest selling single of 1970, beating out "Let It Be" by The Beatles. He received 25,000 fan letters a week and counted 200,000 members in his fan club, making his fan club bigger than Elvis and The Beatles. In 1992 he broke the attendance record at Steel Pier in Atlantic City, doing three shows in one day! He broke The Rolling Stones' record for the number of consecutive shows at Wembley Stadium. He did between six and eight sold out shows at Wembley. The Stones were only able to do five. And so, off stage, Maura Rossi got to know David Cassidy. She was kind enough to share her memories with us.

Q - Maura, you should know that I interviewed David Cassidy back in 2002.

A - You did?

Q - I did.

A - Okay. Every week there were interviews. When I was with him he was like, "I've got four interviews." You know, right before his concerts. He'd have like the whole city calling him wherever he was going to be performing. They wanted to have the lowdown on anything they could get. (laughs)

Q - I believe it. Since your appearance on a David Cassidy special on the Reelz channel, have people been calling you that you haven't heard from in awhile?

A - Not really.

Q - You're an interior designer?

A - I'm an interior architectural designer.

Q - That's even above an interior designer!

A - (laughs)

Q - What does that mean?

A - Well, you have a four year degree. You have to actually do practical work for two years before you can take the licence. It's the same as being an architect, but it's geared towards the interiors, like really just about the ergonomic space relationship to the human body so it gets more defined. Architects are so into the structural end and how things are going to relate from the outside that they usually leave it to people who are versed. And there's so much product out there to make, they don't have time to study that. So, there's a different disciplines.

Q - Do you deal with the rich and famous all the time?

A - I have done a home for someone who owned a major baseball team. Actually, David was friends with him as well. I found out later after talking to my clients about it. I said, "Oh, I'm dating David Cassidy." They're like, "Oh my God! He's our friend." I did do some work for a major sports manager. And, I did not do David's house.

Q - That's what I was about to ask. Did David ask you to design his house?

A - No. I did not meet him like that.

Q - Where did you meet David then?

A - I actually met David here (Lauderdale) on a street called Las Olas. I was meeting friends for dinner that were in from New York and it was the Riverside Hotel. They had a singer there that was there every day, evenings. David was rifting there with the singer. Just walked up to him and started singing I guess. The restaurant probably had ten people in it. It was around 10:30 at night. He was there with one of his coaches. I didn't even know it was him. I had no idea. But the people at the table said to me, "That's David Cassidy." I'm like, "What? What would he be doing here in Fort Lauderdale at 10:30 at night in this small town?" I had no idea about anything about him. I never followed him.

Q - So, you weren't a fan?

A - No, I was not a fan. I just thought he was like the fox when I was little. He was eleven years older than me. I loved his music. I had older brothers and so I was really into the music that they played in the house, which was like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix. That was the type of music we had going on. And then we had the classics. My parents loved the classics, Tony Bennett. I grew up with Frank Sinatra playing all the time. So, I did know about David Cassidy. Actually I'm starting to recollect thoughts that I had as a teenager about him. But I just thought he was a beautiful boy, man, guy. I never thought I would ever date him. I never thought I would ever meet him. Just a hot guy. My twin sister had his poster up in her room. I did not. It was pretty cool. I guess he was drinking water at the time. And so I said, "No way. He's not here." I went, "My God!" I liked him when I was younger, but I wasn't a huge fan. I just really liked his music. So, I just got up and said, "I'm going to say hi to him." Like, "What is he doing here? You can't go talk to him." I said, "Yes, I can!" I walked over to him and slightly interrupted him and his friend. I said something to the effect, and David said this too, it's been recorded, someone has a video of this where he actually says the same thing. I thanked him for all his wonderful music. I was such a little girl. I remember him. "Thank you so much. Why are you in Fort Lauderdale?" He goes, "Oh, well I live here." That was about it. I was just like, "I don't want to interrupt you anymore. I just want to say thank you. I love your music." I turned around to walk away and he said, "Wait. Stop." And I'm still walking. He goes, "Really, stop." I'm like, "Okay." I did a weird little turn around. "Yeah?" He goes, "Well, how will I ever talk to you again?" I said, "I don't know. You can talk to me now." He said, "No, I'd like to talk to you again. Can I have your number?" I said, "Oh, yeah. It's 1-800-555-1212." (laughs) He goes, "Really. What's your name?" I said my name in Maura." He said, "Well, I'm David. You know that." I said, "Yes." He goes, "I'd like to be your friend. I see your light. I'd like to be your friend." I thought that was pretty interesting because I only heard that from one other person. He was basically speaking my language because I see that with people too. Like I see auras from people. Not all people, but certain people. So, I walked back over to him and I said, "Okay." I was thinking to myself, "Oh well, he probably just lives here and probably needs to make some friends. He's David Cassidy for Godsakes. I'm sure he can't go out everywhere." And so I gave him my number and he called the next day. It was a number that you don't know the phone number. We talked for a few minutes and he asked me if I would have dinner with him. I said, "No. I have plans," which I did. He said, "Well, okay. Any time this week?" I said, "The only night I'm available is Wednesday." He said, "Fine." We went to dinner. We met up with some of my friends 'cause I had no idea we were ever gonna date. He did tell me that he was married. It was a bad marriage. He hadn't really been with his wife for ten years and that they weren't going to get divorced. I said, "Well, that's cool. Work on it. Whatever." He said, "No, we've done the whole thing for years and years in therapy. I would lose too much to leave at this point." He told me it was a loveless marriage. They lived in the same house, but he lived where his son's suite was 'cause Beau had moved out a long time ago and he does his own thing and they basically lives two separate lives. I really didn't give it too much thought because I really wasn't interested in him in that way. I was just interested in him as being a friend. I just figured he wants to be friends. I'll introduce him to my friends. You can't stop having David Cassidy as a friend. We remained friends for quite awhile. Then he told me he was deeply in love with me and didn't want to change my life and dating other people if I was, but he was in love with me and that he had every intention of getting divorced so that if I possibly felt the same way he had every intention of going all the way with our relationship. He wasn't in for just a short time. He was in for the long haul.

Q - What year did you meet him?

A - I met him in 2013. February 21st, February 23rd. Something like that. I took a picture of him singing with the guy. So, I actually have a picture of that, the moment before I met him. It's so funny.

Q - When you would go out with him to a restaurant or any public place, would he get recognized?

A - Absolutely.

Q - Would people come over to the table as ask for his autograph?

A - Absolutely.

Q - How bad would it get?

A - Most people were very polite, but David had a way of telling them, "No. I'm eating. Not now." A couple of times he's got a fork going to his mouth and they're saying, "Oh my God! It's you! Can I please have a photo?" And he's like, "I'm a human being and I'm eating." (laughs) He was kind of over it. He was really just over the whole (thing). He told me, "I just want to be a regular person, Maura. That's all I want to do. I want to be like you. I want to be able to go places and do things," but he really couldn't. I remember waiting at the airport once. We got there just a little bit early. We were sitting, waiting for the flight, and a woman and her husband across from us, obviously a fan, recognized him. She came running over. "Oh my God! Is it really you?" He shook her hand. He didn't really like to do that, but he would. He did. She started telling him how she went to his concerts. He was very nice about it. But then she sits down and comes back over. "Can I give you a kiss?" I'm like, "No!" (laughs) He'd want me to do that. He wouldn't want anyone touching him in that kind of way. He didn't want strangers to kiss him. He was like, "I'm a person. I'm not this object. Nobody likes a stranger hugging and kissing them. Why would I?" You're absolutely right. I felt really bad when I told her no. I said, "I'm so sorry honey. Are you okay with me just doing that?" He goes, "My God! Thank you so much. Maura, I hope you always do what you know 'cause you know me. You always react in a situation that is the way you truly think I would want. I would want that. That's exactly how I want it." He would have nightmares and he'd be screaming. He'd actually get up and run and do stuff. I'd run after him and stop him. "Wake up! Wake up! It's me! Wake up!" I asked him, "Are you okay with me waking you up?" He goes, "Absolutely. If I'm screaming and fighting in my dream, wake me up." I'm like, "Okay." So, there were a lot of things I did naturally that he was very appreciative of. He would never get mad at me, ever, for being protective of him, so to speak. There were fans all the time.

Q - It's rather surprising that people still recognized him. He didn't look like he did in his teen idol days.

A - He looked like an older David Cassidy when I met him. It was the last two years that he started not to look like David Cassidy, but people still recognized him. So, I met him in 2013, very early in that part of the year, like in February and we stayed together four years. The last four years of his life, we were together. That last year, the third or fourth year, we were trying to figure it out. We were giving each other space, but we never ended our relationship. I never said, "I'll never see you again." He left all of his clothing here. All of his personal belongings are still here. We left it open. Really, it was more (like) he just got divorced. He wanted to get married. The minute he got divorced he said, "We're going over to the courts and we're getting married." That didn't happen because I knew that he needed time and space after that long relationship. I just know out of personal experience that everybody needs to have time to become you, be more of yourself in order to give in a relationship. Some things were crossing over. He thought that I would be mad at things that I would never be mad about, but Sue (David Cassidy's ex-wife) would. So, I needed to give him that time and space so that he could develop more of a distance from that I would say. Even though they weren't together, I think he was taking care of her financially for a long time and they were still taking care of the house. They still had their intertwined financial stuff. But, the last year he was alive, a portion of that year, we did go to dinner a few times. He didn't feel good a lot. So he canceled a lot. The last time I went to dinner with him was the end of August, 2017, right before he passed away. He was going away in September, at the end of September. He actually left sooner because of the hurricane. I was up at a wedding. One of my closest friends, her cousin married the drummer for Bad Company.

Q - Simon Kirke.

A - Yes. He's wonderful. I went to their wedding with my girlfriend who's her cousin. So I was up at their wedding in the Hamptons. David flew to Chicago early. He was going to be doing one of his A&E Specials. It had four parts. He wanted me to be part of that documentary. I said, "We're not really gettin' it together right now." He said, "I don't care. You're my girlfriend and I want you to be part of that." I said, "I'm not really comfortable with that right now David, Let's talk about it." He said, "Okay. After this one I'll come back and we'll talk and let's just talk everything through, Maura. I love you and I don't want to be without you." I said, "Okay. You come back." He came back sicker than heck and he didn't want me to see him the way he was. He knew he was dying. I'm pretty sure of it.

Q - When he was with you, did he ever talk to you about what it was like being a teen idol, doing The Partridge Family TV show, performing concerts on the weekend?

A - Of course. He talked to me about everything.

Q - He'd do a show, work on weekends and was expected to be back on set at 8 A.M.?

A - Yeah. He was a workaholic.

Q - He was just working too much.

A - Yeah.

Q - Someone should have intervened on his behalf.

A - Yeah. He burnt out. He talked to me a lot about his younger years. He did the garage bands and had a lot of fun with that and his friends. He worked in a textile company in the mail room, sending out memos and samples of fabric. And he went on a lot of interviews. He had a very slight appearance. If I went shopping for clothes for him, he wore my size and if I wanted to buy him a shirt it would basically be one inch bigger on the shoulders. He was very slight in size. He was not overwhelming in stature. Very personable. Very kind. He was always very kind. I think at the very end he got very old man grumpy just 'cause he was done. He knew that he wasn't going to be touring any longer and he really just didn't give a damn. I remember we were at one of our favorite spots. He loves sushi and he loved Italian food. He'd eat pizza a lot. I wasn't a big pizza fan, but he loved his plain pizza. His sushi was just like sashomi sliced really thin. Not a lot of it. He was not a big eater. That's how he kept in shape.

Q - I recall one critic's review of David's CD. He said, "To be David Cassidy was to have been David Cassidy." And his voice was so good. With "Rock Me Baby", he went beyond the teen idol image.

A - He loved the opportunity that he had. It got to be where it was stifling for him. He was contractually obligated to finish his contract. I think that he was so burnt out that he knew that he had to end it all costs. It's so funny, I'd ask him a question. I don't necessarily know what question it would be, but he said, "Maura, no one else has ever lived my life." I'd go, "Well, no one has ever lived my life." And he goes, "But Maura, that's not what I mean. My way, the way I've lived my life being who I am. Nobody has ever lived this situation." I'm like, "That's pretty cool." He was in an unhappy marriage. It was never supposed to be. She got pregnant and he did the right thing for his son. You know, he stayed there. It was an unhappy marriage and he was a Rock star. I'm sure you know the rest. I don't have to say it. He lived his life the way he wanted to. That's one thing I am sure of. He had his own rules. He had his own set of rules.

Q - I had the impression he wanted to be taken more seriously as a singer and actor.

A - I think he loved acting. I'm trying to think how he put it to me. For some reason in my mind I think he wanted to be a legit actor, but he had this gift for singing. For someone to be able to do both and do it as well as he did, he had a lot to fall back on. David had this extremely high vibration. So, in order for him to be around people it had to be that vibration. It had to be in the same level of energy that he was in, otherwise he would just walk out and say, "I'm not stayin'. I can't stand it. That's just dull for me." And that's what he meant when he would talk like that. He wouldn't really be saying dull like it doesn't have any fluff. That's what he would be meaning. He was very awake and in tune with his energetic space. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about.

Q - Sort of. You're talking about auras.

A - Yeah. I woke up after he passed away because he made me. He's around. He's always around here. His energy for sure.

Q - Have you seen any apparitions?

A - Oh, yeah. And it doesn't have to be the shape or size. It can be the soul's shape or size. It can be an orb which he comes to me in that form because from what I get from him, and I'm very in tune with him, I can basically speak with him. It's just really strange. After he passed away we got closer. Our energy is super close now. I know I've been around him in many different lifetimes in different capacities. So, I actually videoed him in orb shape. One night when the moon was like a big super moon last year (2019) I videotaped something that I saw reflecting. I was watching out the window and the lights were off. I'm just watching out through the glass. Behind me I saw like this energy and I took my camera and started to follow it. Well, it turned up in the camera to be a really deep blue shaped heart. And it was bouncing. It was pretty crazy. I knew it was him immediately.

Q - Maura, that's some story you're telling me!

A - I have so many more where he switches the station in my car while I'm listening to it. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I have a huge relationship with this guy and it didn't end when he died. Energy doesn't die. Love doesn't die. When you love someone and they love you they don't leave. He's got in his own existence in another realm of God's Heaven. Wherever he's at, he's at. But he comes in and checks on me all the time. All the time. He tucks me in at night sometimes and when I wake up he's right there. When we sleep our soul doesn't sit there in our body and go, "Let me sleep for eight hours. Let me sit here for eight hours while the body does." No, your soul travels. Your soul goes to another dimension. That energy goes to play. I go to work. (laughs) I go somewhere else and work.

Official Website: www.RossiInteriors-inc.com

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