Exclusive: Diana DeGarmo and Boyfriend Ace Young Bring Music to The Young and the Restless

Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young have more in common than their pasts on American Idol. The two singer-actors are having a live-in love affair in real life and they're also making beautiful music together for The Young and the Restless! DeGarmo, who plays the soap's self-obsessed mob princess Angelina Veneziano, will debut "Good Goodbye," a country ballad she co-wrote with Young, on the March 23 episode of the CBS soap. She gave TV Guide Magazine the deets on her cool venture and her hot man!
TV Guide Magazine: How did you and Ace Young hook up? You came from different seasons of Idol.
DeGarmo: It happened when we were both doing Hair on Broadway a couple of years ago, playing boyfriend and girlfriend. We became best friends, which blossomed into a lot more, which is natural for a man and a woman when...
TV Guide Magazine: When they're performing stark naked on stage?
DeGarmo: Exactly! [Laughs] When you get naked with your best friend it's always interesting. It was a very easy transition from friends to lovers. After Hair I went on the road with 9 to 5: The Musical for a year and Ace went back to L.A. We wanted to see if our relationship could stand that test, and it did.
TV Guide Magazine: How'd you keep this thing hush-hush for so long? It seems like word only got out last month.
DeGarmo: We weren't deliberately keeping a secret. Our close friends and family all knew. We're just not the types to go, "Hey, guess who I'm dating!" We don't show up at the paparazzi restaurants so they can get a photo of us. That's just not our style.
TV Guide Magazine: Is this the first real romance between Idol contestants, not counting backstage nookie?
DeGarmo: David Cook and Kimberly Caldwell dated for a while, but I think we're the first two to live together, which I guess puts us in a different category. Plus, we're the only two who are actually working together and been successful at it. We've been writing songs for two years — stuff for each other, and for friends and other artists — and now we've tailored this song specifically for my character on Y&R.
TV Guide Magazine: Angelina is desperate to be a famous singer, despite her brain-splitting voice. Will "Good Goodbye" will be her big breakthrough?
DeGarmo: Yes, and it will tug at your heartstrings, for sure! It marks a big turn for her in the storyline, where she's finally starting to grow up. She's coming to realize that she needs to get rid of her selfish ways. She doesn't know how to go about that like a normal person, so she does it through song. Devon [the music producer played by Bryton James] writes "Good Goodbye" for her, but Angelina of course steps in to add her two cents to the music and lyrics. But she actually makes the song more personal and touching.
TV Guide Magazine: If Angie's finally waking up to reality, will she give up on her shotgun marriage to Kevin [Greg Rikaart] and give the poor guy a break?
DeGarmo: There are definitely some moments where it looks like that could happen, but I don't want to give it away.
TV Guide Magazine: Or, in true soap fashion, will he fall in love with her after all?
DeGarmo: Kevin does see the light inside Angelina, even though that light may be a little dim sometimes. [Laughs] I think that's what keeps him from killing her.
TV Guide Magazine: I think your character needs meds, don't you?
DeGarmo: Well, maybe. [Laughs] You never know what she's going to do, which keeps everyone on their toes. One minute she's nice, the next she snaps. But this song is a huge moment for her, maturity-wise. And for me, too. This will be the first time I will sing on the show in my real voice, rather than in Angelina's Jersey-girl voice.
TV Guide Magazine: Does this mean Angelina's speaking voice will also be evolving?
DeGarmo: I do believe so. It'll be kinda like My Fair Lady.
TV Guide Magazine: So when does Mr. Ace Young come to Genoa City to play Angelina's new boyfriend?
DeGarmo: From your lips to the writers' ears! I do believe it's in the air. I hope it happens soon. It would be hilarious. He's an amazing actor. He was so brilliant in Hair. I could gush about him for hours if you'd let me.
TV Guide Magazine: And he's got that long hair! Angelina's mobster daddy, Angelo, would absolutely crap!
DeGarmo: I know! [Laughs] It would be so great if she brought home a hippie!
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