The reclusive life of Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe, 67, as more details emerge over who really fathered the singer's children

Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe has largely stayed out of the spotlight ever since her highly publicised divorce more than two decades ago.

Debbie looked completely unrecognisable after she stepped out in a rare outing in April last year, nine years after battling breast cancer.

The former nurse, 67, is the mother of Michael's supposed two children Paris, 27, and Prince, 28. The late singer is also father to son Bigi Jackson, 23, who was born via a surrogate in 2002 and his mother has never been identified.

But there have long been rumours that the singer may not be the biological father of any of his three children.

Debbie has previously stated ex-husband Michael impregnated her artificially with his own sperm. 

However, even the King Of Pop's daughter Paris has previously confessed she sees her mother as 'more of a friend,' having remained in her father's custody in the wake of her divorce. 

Michael met Debbie when she was working as an assistant to his dermatologist Arnold Klein, shortly after his divorce from Lisa Marie. 

A devoted fan of the singer, Debbie suggested she could bear his children - an account that was later corroborated by Lisa, who told Playboy in 2003 that even during their marriage, Michael was aware the besotted Debbie 'had a crush on him' and wanted to have his children.

Debbie was the same age as Michael and became his second wife in 1996 in a secretive ceremony in Sydney, only for the pair to divorce four years later in 2000.

Since her split from the star, Debbie has taken a step back from the spotlight, though in 2022 she appeared in a TMZ documentary where she admitted she felt 'partly to blame' for Michael's death.

In TMZ investigation, Who Really Killed Michael Jackson, Debbie wept as she admitted she regrets not doing more to help Jackson when he became addicted to painkillers.

Michael died aged 50 following a drug-induced cardiac arrest in June 2009 at his home in Los Angeles and his personal physician at the time, Dr Conrad Murray, was jailed for involuntary manslaughter.

Rowe said: 'I was basically as bad as him [Klein] and I am so sorry I participated in it.' 

Debbie's comments were said to have 'dumbfounded' Michael's family at the time, with sources claiming she had 'never' spoken with some of the Jackson family about the star since his death.

In 2016, Debbie revealed she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer, with the diagnosis leading her to rebuild bridges with her daughter Paris after being estranged for more than a year.

Speaking on Entertainment Tonight at the time Debbie shared what an incredible support her daughter had been.

'She's my rock, she's amazing,' she said. 'She's been with me the whole time.'

'She was there. First phone call, [it] took her 30 seconds [to reach out] when she found out,' Debbie confided.

TMZ reported that the cancer diagnosis pushed the two women to mend fences, years after Paris shut Debbie out of her life and refused to answer her phone calls.

However, in 2017, Paris celebrated her mother Debbie getting her last chemotherapy treatment, proving that bridges between them had finally been rebuilt.

During her marriage to Michael, Debbie was the surrogate mother to his two oldest children, Paris and Prince, however new rumours have begun to circulate about the paternity of his youngest son. 

Friends of the late musician's family believe The Godfather actor Marlon Brando may have donated the sperm used to conceive his third child Bigi, previously known as Blanket. 

'It has all kicked off within the wider Jackson estate quite recently, with [siblings] Paris and Prince being told of this development,' a source said.

'It is all very strange, but the pieces of the puzzle seem to all add up. Everyone is trying to get their heads around it.'

New explosive details emerged on Wednesday that suggests another person, linked to Marlon, could in fact be the father. You can find out more here.

Notwithstanding the fact that Debbie was white, their fair skin and Caucasian looks - Prince's hair was initially blond, while Paris has blue eyes - soon prompted speculation that he was not their biological father.

The idea was strengthened by the farcical lengths Michael took to hide their faces in public behind masks or blankets. 

However, the singer - who was born black despite reportedly lightening his skin with bleaching cream - insisted he was their biological father in a notorious 2003 interview with Martin Bashir.

'I used a surrogate mother [for Blanket] and my own sperm cells. I had my own sperm cells in my other two children,' he said. 'They are all my children.'

However, in the same year, biologists and geneticists started telling the media that, although it was theoretically possible that Debbie and Michael had produced light-skinned children, the odds were low.

Reports began to circulate that Michael suffered from a low sperm count and had turned to other men – friends he trusted and admired – to provide him with children. Speculation began to build to a frenzy.

After splitting from the singer in 1999, Debbie had agreed to give Michael full custody of their children, but at the age of 15, they reconnected. 

In 2021, Paris opened up about her relationship with Debbie who she confessed is more like a 'friend' to her. 

The entertainer sat down with Willow Smith on her family's Red Table Talk show where she dished on their now 'very chill' bond and spoke about how her mega famous dad's death had an impact on her.

'Its just cool having her as a friend,' Paris said of their relationship. 'It's very chill - which I love - it's the perfect word to describe it.'

And speaking about getting to re-form a relationship with her mum when she was a teenager she said she realized how 'similar' they are now, and frequently bounces her music off of her.

'It's cool. I mean like, getting to know her, seeing how similar we are, getting into what kind of music she likes and she really likes country and folk.

'I send her some of the stuff that I'm working on that has banjos in them,' she shared.