Fergie: Woman of the Year

She and her boyfriend, actor Josh Duhamel, watched Blades of Glory at their home in Brentwood, California. “That is the type of movie we rent all the time. We, uh, get our munchies and watch comedies. We have a blast.”

“Munchies” is a word often associated with drug use, and Blender recalls a song on The Dutchess called “Mary Jane Shoes,” a musical hint that Fergie likes to smoke weed. But she won’t move beyond the hint.

 “We like to watch very funny movies with a lot of snacks. We watch Family Guy a lot,” she says, laughing. It’s time for a direct approach: Fergie, you’re a stoner, aren’t you?

“Speculation, my friend. I’m not admitting anything.”

Most rappers pride themselves on being adored by “the streets,” but the Black Eyed Peas also appeal to the boulevards, the piazzas and the strasses — no other hip-hop group has had as much international success or toured so many exotic places. “It’s so much fun,” Fergie chortles. “It’s insanity.”

On a stint in Israel, she says, she put a wish inside a crack in the Wailing Wall.

Did you wish that Josh would marry you?
We’re practically married, anyway. I’m madly in love with him. He understands how to treat a woman and give me respect. And I’m gonna miss him on tour. [Her eyes start to drip, and then she turns mean.] Here I go again. Don’t make me cry, you fucker.

You do a lot of spelling in your songs. We know you can spell tasty and Fergie and glamorous. Let’s try a few other words. Can you spell integer?
I-N-T-E-G-E-R.

Good! Here’s a more difficult one —
That was a difficult one! Why do you want to make me look stupid? If you make me look stupid in this damn interview, I will kill you.

Spell Ecuador.
Fuckin’ bitch! Is there a C involved? Crap, I don’t know. We performed in Ecuador, but I only saw the hotel gym. My first instinct was E-Q-U-A-D-O-R. Is there a C involved?

Yes.
Screw! Screw you! OK, how many glasses of wine have I had? I challenge you to a game of Scrabble, for 500 bucks. I know all the two-letter words.

Big deal. You made 500 bucks in royalties while you were saying the words 500 bucks.
Do not fucking do this to me when I drink wine, you ass. I know this is gonna be in the interview: “Fergie starts swearing when she gets pissed.”

Well, she does. At this point, although plenty of food remains on the table, an assistant tells Fergie she has to leave right away for the airport.

Just let us pay the bill first.
Let me pay.

No, we’re paying.
You know, usually the more dominant one in the relationship, the one who is more controlling, likes to be dominated in bed.

Who talks that way to people they don’t really know? Freaks do.

Outside, in the chauffeured black SUV, waits Fergie’s surprise: six-foot-three, bristly haired boyfriend Josh Duhamel (pronounced doo-MELL), handsome star of TV’s Las Vegas and Hollywood’s Transformers, ex-college-football player, former Male Model of the Year and Cosmopolitan magazine’s Fun Fearless Male of the Year. Fergie slips into the SUV and slides shut the door. Cooing, baby voices and kisses are heard. It would not be surprising if the car began rocking side to side.

They met in September 2004, on the set of Las Vegas, during a Black Eyed Peas guest spot. Duhamel had a crush on her and announced that he’d dreamed about her. She brazenly asked him how the dream was. “I was single,” she says, “so who cares? I’m flirty. Then he’s like, ‘You’re hot.’ It worked.” He calls her Fergs and Sugarbooty.

Duhamel reluctantly vacates the SUV, shouting his devotion as he retreats down the street, and the car heads toward Los Angeles International Airport. The driver plays The Dutchess. Fergie asks him to turn it off. To enliven our journey, we share a second bottle of wine. We alternate swigs, as Fergie chews on a piece of gum.

Blender takes out an iPod, cues it up and offers her the earbuds. The song is “At Night I Pray,” a ballad she wrote and sang on Wild Orchid’s 1996 debut. It’s half fake Mariah Carey, half fake Anita Baker.

“Oh, my gosh, I know what this is,” Fergie says. “Do I really have to keep listening to it?” After 45 seconds she turns it off. “That wasn’t really me. Was I praying at night that love would come along? No, I was out cheating on my boyfriends. Are you kidding me? I was the biggest cheater on the planet. So alone and the room feels cold. You think my crap was alone? I was having fun.”