Adrienne Bailon: Dating Rob Kardashian Was "So Hurtful to Me and to My Career"

 
Adrienne Bailon's infamous Rob Kardashian tattoo isn't the only thing she regrets these days. According to The Real host, she feels being associated with her ex's family has tainted her career overall.
"To be stuck with that Kardashian label, that was so hurtful to me and to my career," she tells Latina magazine. "I probably realized that too late -- not that it would've affected my decisions in terms of who I dated, but it would've affected my decision to appear on the show."

She continues, "At the time, I didn’t think anyone would even care. To this day, people will still say, ‘You ruined Rob’s life!’ and I’ll think, Damn, I was still playing with Barbie dolls when I met him."
Adrienne, who appeared on Keeping Up With the Kardashians for 13 episodes while she was dating Rob, explains that she finds it unfair that people still blame her for their failed relationship. The couple split in 2009 after Adrienne found out about her then-boyfriend's infidelity.
"It's common knowledge that he cheated on me, and it always bothered me that people were like, 'Pero, why couldn’t you forgive him?' Why are women always the ones who have to forgive? If you cheated on a man, he would be like, 'You’re disgusting, and I want nothing to do with you.' But women, we’re supposed to be like, 'He messed up. He made a mistake.'" she says. "And, in my situation, it wasn’t like, 'Oh my God! I made a mistake!' He strategically planned things out so that he could cheat on me, and that to me was so disloyal."
These days, the 30-year-old is dating Def Jam Records exec Lenny Santiago. The couple have been together since 2010, and Adrienne admits she cannot wait to settle down with the 40-year-old.
"I wanted to let people know that we’re not a secret -- we're just private. Secret relationships are shady, and it’s never been that. Five years into our relationship, we're no longer at the beginning -- we're established now. We're in a great, strong place where any negativity cast our way won’t affect us," she says. "If by some miracle we started taping The Real in New York tomorrow, I'd marry him, like, right now. I want a family. I see my sister and she's on her second baby, and I’m like, That's success. Having a family -- I can't wait for that."