Lady Gaga is opening up about her relationship with her fiancé, Michael Polansky. Specifically, what he said about happiness that the Grammy winner found “really hard” to “hear” when they started dating. 

Polansky told Gaga she ‘could be a lot happier’ in the ‘early’ days of their relationship

Speaking to The New York Times, Gaga opened up about her mental health. “I had psychosis. I was not deeply in touch with reality for a while,” she said. “It took me out of life in a big way, and after a lot of years of hard work, I got myself back.”

Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, continued, saying by the time she met her now-fiancé, she was doing “better.” However, he noticed there was still room for improvement. 

“It was a hard time,” Gaga said. “And it was actually really special when I met my partner because when I met Michael, I was in a much better place. But I remember him saying to me, pretty early on, ‘I know you could be a lot happier than you are.’”

Gaga and the tech investor began dating in 2019. They spent the pandemic together at the “Poker Face” singer’s Malibu, Calif., home and have made numerous public appearances together in recent years. Think: the 2024 Super Bowl. 

“It was really hard for me to hear him say that because I didn’t want him to think that of me,” Gaga continued. “I wanted him to think I was, like, this happy, totally together person.” 

She also noted her diagnosis is something she’s “found increasingly harder to talk about” as she “hate[s] feeling defined by it.” 

“It felt like something I felt ashamed of,” Gaga explained. “But I don’t think that we should feel ashamed if we go through times like that. I mostly just wish to say, it can get better. It did for me, and I’m grateful for that.”

Polansky proposed to Gaga using multiple rings

So, how did the venture capitalist propose to the pop star? Gaga shared a little bit of her and Polansky’s engagement story during a fan-led press conference on March 6, 2025. She revealed that “Blade of Grass,” a track off her new “Mayhem” album, which debuted the following day, “is about when Michael proposed” (via YouTube). 

“We were in the backyard and he said, ‘If I proposed to you one day, what am I supposed to do?’” she recalled. “And I said, ‘You can just get a blade of grass from the backyard and wrap it around my finger.’ And he did actually propose to me with these green bands,” she said, holding one up to the audience. “He also gave me an [engagement] ring.”

The singer asked Polansky about marriage and children on their first date

Gaga didn’t hold back on her and Polansky’s first date. “I wanted marriage and kids more than anything,” Gaga told Good Morning America, sharing that she suggested as much when their first date got underway.

“Michael flew to Vegas when I was doing my show to take me on our first date,” she recalled. “And before we even sat down, I said, ‘Do you want marriage and kids?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I do.’ And I said, ‘OK, great, do you want some champagne?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’” 

“I think I wanted him to know that I was a family girl,” the Joker: Folie à Deux star explained. Years later and Gaga can’t “imagine going through life with anyone but him.” 

“He just loves the whole me,” Gaga said. “I learn a lot from him. He’s so supportive. He’s got an incredibly kind heart. He’s my best friend. Being in a partnership with your best friend, I feel like, is a huge blessing.” 

As for wedding planning, the “Telephone” singer laughed and joked, saying: “It’s going, it’s going.”