Carrie Prejean, Miss California, answered questions Monday about the controversy surrounding her remarks on gay marriage, her future and those rumors about her and Michael Phelps.
The Miss USA runner-up whose gay marriage flap during the pageant drew searing criticism has reportedly cuddled up to Phelps at baseball games and dined out with the hunky Olympian, her grandmother said.
"Carrie and Michael have been out to baseball games and lunch," grandma Jeanette Coppolla dished to Radaronline.com. "He always calls her when he is in town and they go out."
Phelps, who is frequently seen with a stable of girls, denies he is dating the beauty queen.
"I'm not dating anybody," he told Usmagazine.com. "I'm single. My private life stays private."
In a television interview Monday, Prejean echoed those statements “Actually it’s not appropriate to talk about right now… That’s my total personal life but he’s a great man. We’re just friends. We’re not dating.”
That wasn't the only topic discussed Monday.
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When asked about the controversy surrounding her remarks in the Miss USA pageant and the following Today Show interview, Perjean admitted she was appprehensive. "I felt I was jumping into the lions’ den," she said. “I wasn’t sure what their approach was going to be. I wasn’t sure how supportive Matt Lauer was going to be but I felt like God was telling me ‘Carrie, you need to go.’”
Prejean admitted she's received death threats. “It is scary," she said. "We have taken precautions and have gotten into contact with who we need to contact to protect me.”
What about her future and that "off-the-record" meeting with Donald Trump? "I’m not supposed to talk about it. The meeting was great. He’s very supportive. I thank him for his support.“
With all the attention, Prejean is considering several options as her next step. “There are some things that are coming my way. Possibly writing a book. I think it would be pretty selfish of me not to share my story with others. Just about how God works in such amazing ways and how he shows up in just the nick of time.”
The beauty queen came under fire last week for dissing gay marriage when asked about same-sex marriage during the pageant.
"In my country and in my family, I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman -- no offense to anyone out there," she said.
