EXCLUSIVE: Jewel Gushes Over Boyfriend Charlie Whitehurst, Says She's Not Ready for Marriage
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Jewel is smitten over her boyfriend, NFL star Charlie Whitehorse, but she's not quite ready for marriage. In fact, she admitted it isn’t even on her “radar.”

"It's not on the horizon at all," the 42-year-old musician told ET's Darla Murray while in New York for an appearance on Jenny McCarthy’s Sirius XM radio show, Inner Circle. "I really haven't been thinking along that line -- neither of us really have."


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Jewel -- who has a 5-year-old son, Kase, with estranged husband and rodeo pro Ty Murray -- explained that she’s not against getting hitched again, however.

“I believe in marriage. I think it’s a great institution if that is something you want, but [it’s not] necessarily important," she said. "I think a lot of women have a false fantasy that now makes you secure, and as women grow to be more independent and have their own security, it doesn’t mean the same thing all the time.”

For now, Jewel and her beau of more than a year are simply enjoying taking things slow.

“I think having a connected, meaningful relationship is a really important and great thing,” she told ET. “I don't think marriage has to be a part of it.”

Even though she won’t be walking down the aisle anytime soon, the multi-platinum selling singer couldn’t stop gushing over the Indianapolis Colts quarterback.

"He has been great," Jewel said of Whitehurst. "Gosh, we have been together a year and half now. He is just lovely. He has impeccable character -- very smart, very funny."

"He is surprisingly silly, which I think a lot of people wouldn't know about him and in the most charming way," she added. "He has a great sense of humor and [is] just very supportive. We travel all over together and have a lot of fun."

Jewel also noted that her son has a great relationship with Whitehouse. "He calls him The Giant because he is 6'5"," she said with a laugh.


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Though Whitehouse wasn’t in the Big Apple while Jewel was promoting her new Hallmark show, Framed for Murder: A Fixer-Upper Mystery, the duo does try to travel together whenever possible.

"“It depends on when we have seen each other and how much we have seen each other," she said. "When I am on things like this, I am working the entire day, so they are not the most fun trips to be on."

Despite their hectic schedules, Jewel and Whitehouse don’t have any specific rules for how long they can go without seeing each other.

"It's really just sort of winging it," she admitted. "We just sort of stay in tune with what each other needs. What is going on with our schedules and making sure we make each other a priority."

On the subject of getting back in the studio, Jewel confessed that her focus is on expanding her brand, although new music isn't completely out of the question.

"We will see," she told ET. "Being a mom, I have been looking at entrepreneurial ways to create different verticals in my life and leverage my brand. I really think that the music of the entertainment industry isn’t in monetizing music, it’s in monetizing who you are as an ethos."

Jewel's appearance on McCarthy's Inner Circle airs Friday, Jan. 27, at 8:00 p.m. ET on Sirius XM Stars channel 109.


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