michael jackson

Today, she bears little resemblance to the fresh-faced blonde who once posed smiling for glossy magazine 'family' photographs with Jackson and their babies. Her hair is still blonde but her body has bloated almost beyond all recognition. At 5ft 10in tall, she weighs around 15st and is clad in denim with a T-shirt which says 'Shut up and ride'.

Eyeliner has been tattooed under her eyes, a process she has topped up every five years. She is also planning on getting laser treatment for her failing eyesight.

She says: "I'm 50 in December. That's a big milestone. I want to lose weight. After someone snatched a photo of me, the newspapers wrote about how fat I'd become. That's so unfair because I've lost 20lb. There'll be saying I'm pregnant next."

Rowe pauses and adds: "As a child I didn't dream of marrying Michael Jackson or anyone else famous. I am not fazed by celebrity. I was born and bought up in LA, where I dreamed of having a ranch with horses. It's taken me a long time, but I am finally doing what I always wanted to do."

Despite Jackson's dire financial straits and rumours that a mortgage company will repossess his Neverland mansion, Rowe denies she is short of money. Every penny goes on her horses, which she sells for up to £15,000 each, and her beloved dogs.

"I can't be bought. I don't need money. I just like to be left alone," she insists.

Bizarrely, as she poses for photographs with her horses, her mind changes. Flushed with the excitement of attention, she announces: "I want a reality TV show. I reckon I'd be great. Can you pitch it for me? It would be me, the dogs and my horses. Do you think they'd go for that in Britain? I think it would be a scream."

But the sight of this middle-aged woman sweating in the heat, craving affection from her animals, is far from funny. One wonders if the children she gave away might have supplied the love she obviously needs, but there seems little chance of that while they remain with their itinerant father.

So does Rowe ever see herself marrying again after her union with a megastar? She says she is happiest living just with her animals. Then she sighs. "There are three stages in marriage. First it's puppy love, then it's for breeding purposes and then, if you can make it through all the bull***t, it's for companionship."

Rowe pauses, then waves a dismissive hand. "I've done the breeding stage. I don't need the rest."