Rita Monero opens up about dating Elvis Presley: 'I worshiped him'

Rita Moreno remembers the events leading up to her liaison with Elvis Presley.

During a fireside chat with People en Español on Wednesday at the DotdashMeredith headquarters in New York City, the renowned actress talked about her encounter with the King of Rock and Roll.

"Elvis Presley is another whole story," Moreno, 92, said. "I was going with Marlon [Brando] at the time. He wasn't necessarily going with me, but I was going with him. You know what I mean?"

"I found one day some lady's lingerie in his house and I went home weeping and crying and so hurt and furious and I thought, 'I never want to see him again,'" she continued. "But I knew I didn't mean that. I was really just absolutely crushed. Not only crushed but I was his slave. I just adored and worshiped him is more like it."

Colonel Tom Parker, Presley's manager, gave her an unexpected call the very day following the event.

"Turns out Elvis saw you with the commissary of the 20th Century Fox," she said with a southern accent, recalling what he told her. "He liked what he saw and he would like very much to meet you. Would you like to meet him?"

After pausing, she recalled her feelings at the time, saying, "I saw the underwear and I said yes."