The 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' hitmaker also shares that the Yankee baseball player's 'functional' biracial family helped her change her point of view about growing up in the similar situation.

• Sep 24, 2020

AceShowbiz - Mariah Carey has opened up about her past marriage to Tommy Mottola. During her appearance on "The Oprah Conversation", which will air on Thursday, September 24, she  details the important role that Derek Jeter played in her decision to leave Tommy.

"Before you divorced Tommy Mottola, you met Yankee baseball player Derek Jeter, and you say he served a very high purpose in your life," Oprah Winfrey asks the "Hero" hitmaker in the clip of the upcoming episode which is obtained by PEOPLE. "This was one of those situations of the right person at the right place and the right time. What was it about Derek? He got his own song too, right?"

In response to the question, Mariah candidly answers, "He got his own song. He got a few songs. He was a catalyst that helped me get out of that relationship because I believed that there was somebody else." Referring to her songs "My All" and "The Roof", Mariah adds, "It was the racial situation, his mom is Irish, his dad is Black. But he was also very ambiguous looking to me. I didn't know who he was, we met and I've written songs about it."

"And honestly, I don't think it was like, 'Oh my gosh, he was the love of my life,' " she continues. "Like, at the time I did, because I didn't think I would ever meet anybody who wouldn't- What's the word? I used the word, I just thought about this last night. Not looked down on but feel superior to me because of the fact that I'm not one way or another in most people's minds, and they have preconceived notions, whatever. But he was a catalyst. And I think that it was beautiful."

The mom of two also shares that Derek's biracial family helped her change her point of view. "And they changed my viewpoint that 'Oh, it's because of the biracial situation that my family is so screwed up,' as opposed to 'it's them.' And yes, those things did play a huge part in their dysfunction. But it was healthy for me to see a functional family that basically kind of looked like mine, but didn't feel like mine," she divulges.

"And he was also living his dream job and doing his dream job," she reveals. "I believe we connected in that way."