"She said, oh, I like that"— Flavor Flav claims he slapped Brigitte Nielsen after she smacked him

Rapper Flavor Flav recently opened up about an encounter he shared with Danish actress Brigitte Nielsen. On May 12, 2025, Flav sat down with Bunnie XO on the Dumb Blonde podcast to discuss his experiences in Hollywood.

Flavor Flav talked about his time on the reality show Surreal Life. The rapper appeared in season 3 of Surreal Life, which aired in 2003. He was joined by Brigitte Nielsen on the show and proceeded to date her until 2005.

Flav recounted how he fell in love with Nielsen on the show to Bunnie XO. He claimed that Brigitte wasn't a very hygienic person while on the show and that one day, when he stopped her from touching his face, she slapped him.

"One day Brigitte went to touch my face and I knocked the hands down... I said 'I don't want nobody touching my face', she said, 'You don't want nobody touching your face?' I said 'No.' She said, 'Oh, okay.' Bam, smacked the sh*t out of me. As soon as she smacked me, the first instinct, I smacked her in the face. She grabbed her cheek, she looked down at me and she said, 'Oh, I like that.' "

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Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen's relationship explored

According to Us Weekly, Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen were in a relationship from 2004 to 2005 after meeting on season 3 of Surreal Life. As per IMDb, the couple landed a spin-off show called Strange Love. The spin-off, which aired from January 2004 to April 2005, focused solely on Flav and Nielsen.

Strange Love concluded with the couple choosing to go their separate ways, with Brigitte opting to live with her Italian boyfriend (now husband) Mattia Dessi. Flavor Flav went on to star in his own reality show, Flavor of Love, which ran for three seasons.

Flavor Flav at the OMEGA House Paris 2024 - Day 10 (Image via Getty)

During his interview on Dumb Blonde, he told Bunnie XO,

"All of this time that I was doing these TV shows with Brigitte, I still never knew exactly who she was and what she did. So love was real, you know what I'm saying?"

As reported by People on June 5, 2018, Flavor Flav spoke to the outlet, celebrating Brigitte Nielsen's pregnancy at age 54 with Mattia Dessi.

"This pregnancy at over 50, it's amazing! It shows everybody in the world that everything and anything is possible. I was proud. I was siked to see her belly that big. I'm just happy for Gitte. I never took gymnastics but I was flipping when I saw that. Flipping with joy."

Celebrity Sightings in Los Angeles, California - October 23, 2019 (Image via Getty)

Flav announced that he held Brigitte's husband Mattia in high regard, stating:

"He's a great guy, I love that guy. He let Brigitte shoot the show and make her money. And that's very big of him. I really commend him for really letting Brigitte do her thing."

Flavor also disclosed that he shared a close relationship with Nielsen's children, and said that they had "mad love" for him.