Renée Zellweger was the ‘great love’ of Jim Carrey’s life

Jim Carrey opens up about his engagement to Renée Zellweger -and his little-known romance with a famous singer 15 years his senior.

20 years after they split, it seems like Jim Carrey still holds a candle for his ex-fiance Renée Zellweger.

And he’s still glowing in praise for a famous singer 15 years his senior he briefly dated almost 40 years ago.

Carrey’s in a reflective mood as he goes on the publicity trail for his new “semi-autobiographical novel”, Memoirs and Misinformation.

The book comes with a somewhat confusing disclaimer – “None of this is real and all of it is true” – and is billed by the publisher as a “fearless and semi-autobiographical deconstruction of persona”.

Inside, Carrey reportedly offers up insight into several of his past relationships, and at one point calls ex Zellweger the “great love of my life”.

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The Me Myself and Irene co-stars soon became a couple.

The pair started dating when they worked on the black comedy Me, Myself and Irene together in 1999. They broke off their engagement in December 2000.

In a candid chat with radio host Howard Stern, Carrey said that Zellweger “definitely was special to me, very special. I think she’s lovely”.

Stern asked Carrey if he had any regrets about the relationship not lasting.

“I don’t regret — I don’t have those things. But I do appreciate the people that have come through my life for the good that they gave me … but I don’t pine for anybody. It’s not that kind of situation. It’s just my way of saying, ‘There was a very important thing there,’ and to recognise that.”

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Carrey: Zellweger was “very special to me.” Picture: SGranitz/WireImage

Carrey also opened up about his little-known pre-fame romance with singer Linda Ronstadt, 15 years his senior.

The pair dated for eight months in 1983 when Carrey was a 21-year-old aspiring comedian and Ronstadt, 36, had been a household name for a decade.

“Linda Ronstadt has a special place in the book because, you know, it may have seemed like some … boy-toy kind of situation to some people looking at it from the outside but she treated me with incredible respect. She loved my talent and respected my talent – we’d hang out and she’d say, ‘You’re going to be where I am. You’re going to deal with all the stuff I’ve dealt with.’”

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80s-era Linda Ronstadt.

Ronstadt in 2019. Picture: AFP

Carrey opened up about the night they met at a comedy club where he was performing and Ronstadt was searching for a comic to open her next tour.

“I don’t know what I was thinking, I was in 21-year-old Mac Daddy mode, but I immediately adored her. She said, ‘Wow, you’re really good, would you like to come on the road with me?’ I said, ‘No, but I’ll go out with you.’ Without a thought. I was giving up a gig which I needed – I had no money! She kind of screwed up her face and said: ‘ … OK!’”