Anna Nicole Smith’s ex Larry Birkhead is set to make his annual appearance at the Barnstable-Brown Kentucky Derby this weekend with daughter Dannielynn — 20 years later, he fell for the iconic supermodel at the same event in what he calls, a ‘magical’ encounter.
Larry, 50, spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com about their four-year roller-coaster relationship that led to Anna’s tragic death — providing shocking and intimate details never shared before.
Larry first met Anna 20 years ago, in 2003. “She blew me kisses and I was intrigued by her, nothing came out. However, the second year I saw her at the Kentucky Derby gala was magical,” he says.
Three months after their fateful meeting at the derby, Anna asked Larry to leave his home in Kentucky to move in with her at her home in Los Angeles. He agreed and the couple lived together for two and a half years – until she moved to the Bahamas when she was five months pregnant with their daughter Dannielynn.
Larry Birkhead, 50, first met Anna Nicole Smith in 2003 at the Kentucky Derby (pictured at event), which he attends annually with their daughter Dannielynn, 16
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Larry revealed intimate details about his relationship with Anna, including how he lived with her in LA for two and a half years (pictured at the time)
So in love: Anna asked Larry (kissing on their couch at home in 2005) to move in with her three months after they met at the 2004 Kentucky Derby
Larry and Dannielynn (who carries that hatred her mother wore when she met her father) attend the Kentucky Derby annually and are ready for the event this weekend
In his own words, Larry tells DailyMail.com, “I first met Anna in 2003 and she blew me kisses. I was intrigued by her, but we didn’t interact too much.’
“She came back the following year and she was completely transformed. I always thought she was so beautiful. She has a unique look. But when she returned to the Derby in 2004, she was in top form.’
Looking back, Larry says, “I think when she came back to the party in 2004, her confidence had changed. And she was a completely different person. The second year when she came back, the magic happened.’
“She blew kisses at me, but I thought she did that for everyone. Be flirty for the camera. I never thought she’d want a man like me from Kentucky, when she could have all the boys that want it.’
The infamous photo of the two — with Anna on the left wearing a pink-feathered hat — was taken when they met in 2004.
However, after the event, Larry – who was working as a photographer at the time – assumed that would be it – until he got a call from her management team.
“Anna had her people call me and ask if I would come out and photograph her for a charity event she was doing for a children’s camp, Camp Kindle. So I flew over and the sparks were there again.’
‘Anna gave me her number after the charity event, but I was sure she gave me the wrong number. So when I first called her I was surprised she answered. But on the phone it clicked again.’
After a few weeks of talking back and forth, it was clear something was up – enough for Anna to make Larry an offer he couldn’t refuse.
At this year’s Derby, Dannielynn wore a beautiful ensemble in honor of her late mother
The custom ensemble featured images of the iconic model
“I got a call from Anna and she said she wanted me to move in with her in LA and be her personal photographer,” he recalls.
“This was three months after we met at the Kentucky Derby.”
‘Of course I said yes. When I first went there, I looked around her house and I asked her, ‘where am I going to stay?’ She laughed and replied, “Here with me,” pointing to her bedroom.
From that moment on I lived with Anna for two and a half years. Nobody knows this, so a lot of people are speculating.’
“We lived together in her house until Anna was five or six months pregnant with our daughter.”
At the time, Anna was embroiled in a legal battle over $30 million, which she claimed was promised to her by her ex-husband, billionaire J. Howard Marshall. Anna married him in 1994 when she was 26 years old and he was 89.
He died 14 months after marrying the Guess pin-up, leaving behind a fortune of $1.6 billion. A lawsuit ensued, which Larry says led to their divorce.
“We lived together and were busy with baby planning. We were picking names for our baby,” Larry says, adding, “Despite what everyone says, Anna knew I was the father.”
Dannielynn was just six months old when her mother Anna Nicole (pictured together shortly after she was born in the Bahamas) died
Dannielynn (at the 2022 Barnstable-Brown Gala in Kentucky) is ‘stubborn like her mom,’ says Larry
‘They took her to the Bahamas because she was in court for all that money, and they thought I would try to take it from her, so they saw me as a threat and Anna believed it.”
“It was a game I had to play and go through the motions. But we kept in touch until she died,” he told DailyMail.com.
Anna Nicole gave birth to Dannielynn in September 2006 in the Bahamas. Three days after her birth, Anna Nicole’s only son, Daniel, died of a drug overdose.
Anna died six months later, in February 2007.
Anna and Larry’s relationship was further complicated after Dannielynn’s birth – with the model insisting that her attorney Howard K. Stern could be Dannielynn’s father.
In an effort to solidify this, Anna married Howard just a few weeks after giving birth in a shotgun ceremony on a houseboat in the Bahamas.
Anna put Howard’s name on Dannielynn’s birth certificate — and Larry became embroiled in a bitter custody battle that continued for months after the model’s death.
On April 10, 2007, a judge ruled Larry as Dannielynn’s biological father after this was determined by a DNA test.
Larry (at the Barnstable-Brown Kentucky Derby) says Anna Nicole would be ‘very proud’ of the beautiful woman their daughter has become
Larry immediately amended the birth certificate and transferred Howard’s parental rights to him.
He also moved Dannielynn to his home in Kentucky, where they still live.
When asked if Dannielynn did anything that reminded him of Anna, he laughed. “Yes, she can spend my money like her mother. And she likes to do that.’
“After nearly 17 years of raising my daughter alone, people see that this is a resume that speaks for itself. I don’t care what people say about anything else,” Larry says of the criticism he sometimes receives.
“Some people get mad because they can’t access me or Dannielynn. So they try to hold on for whatever reason, publicity or whatever, so you have to build a wall. That’s what I’ve always done,” Larry adds.
Of his daughter, who never got a chance to meet her iconic mother, Larry tells DailyMail.com, “I’ve created such a foundation that I’ve given the tools to say, look, this. Life is normal now.’
‘I am very picky and selective. She is very down to earth and very humble. She is not one of these entitled children of celebrities. She attends a public school all her life. She chose that. She said I want to go to a public school, not a private school.’
;Dannielynn is on the honor roll and she gets great grades. She takes college-level classes. Anna would be very proud of her. I know I am.’