Brigitte Nielsen on Ex-Husband Sylvester Stallone: 'I Have No Idea What That Guy Is Up To' (Exclusive)

The actress, who was briefly married to the action star for two years in the '80s, says they've barely spoken in decades: 'It's almost like it never happened'

Sylvester Stallone And Brigitte Nielsen
Brigitte Nielsen with ex-husband Sylvester Stallone. Photo:

Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Brigitte Nielsen has no interest in living in the past.

In fact, the actress, 60, who welcomed her fifth child, daughter Frida, in 2018, is so happy with her life now that she says her former relationships and marriages are merely a far distant memory — if that.

"[My marriage] to Sylvester Stallone was so long ago," she tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week's issue. "I never think about him. Sometimes it feels like it never even happened."

She doesn't mean that as a slight to her ex — she just says so much has happened since their brief union between 1985-1987 that it feels like it's another lifetime ago.

"I have no idea what that guy is up to. You move on, you know? You're so busy doing other things that it can be like, 'Wait, what was his name again?'" she says with a laugh, about her earlier relationships.

Stallone and Nielsen first got together while working on the films Cobra and Rocky IV, and became engaged during the production of Rocky IV. They married in 1985, but were divorced by 1987. (They later briefly reunited when Nielsen made an appearance in 2018's Creed — Nielsen described the reunion as "professional.")

Brigitte Nielsen, husband Mattia Dessi, daughter Frida photographed at a private home in Andalusia, Marbella,
Brigitte Nielsen and daughter Frida.

Monica Gumm

In this week's issue of PEOPLE, Nielsen opens up about her current happy relationship with husband Mattia Dessi, 45, and how overjoyed they are to be parents to daughter Frida, 5.

"I waited a long time for Frida," Nielsen says, noting that she tried to conceive for 13 years with IVF before it finally happened.

While she says she's found her true bliss on the home front, Nielsen admits she does miss acting.

"I totally miss acting," she says. "I still get a lot of action scripts, and I'm actually producing an action movie. But I would love to do something that's a comedy, something fun and upbeat that that's not on location in Thailand for six months. I don't know if that exists or would come my way, but I'm open to everything."

She's also hard at work on a one-woman show.

"I've seen some things," she says with a laugh. "But I'm writing something that sort of makes fun of myself and the situations I've gotten into. Something that's really uplifting, and also educational at the same time."

For exclusive photos and more on Brigitte Nielsen’s story, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Monday.

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