LARS ULRICH's Wife JESSICA MILLER: 'I Was Never Attracted To Him When I Knew Him As A Friend'

Lars Ulrich's wife Jessica Miller has opened up about her relationship with the METALLICA drummer, calling him "the nicest guy" and her "best friend".

Miller, 39, who was previously reportedly in a relationship with SYSTEM OF A DOWN guitarist Daron Malakian, is a professional model, and has appeared on the cover of various international editions of Vogue magazine. She has also been a model for Gap, H&M and Chanel, among others.

Jessica discussed her relationship with Lars during an appearance on "One Life One Chance", the podcast hosted by H2O lead singer Toby Morse. Asked how she met Ulrich, Miller said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Music — just hanging out around shows and concerts. We had hung a lot together with our respective exes, just after shows, or ran into each other at parties. Totally just running into each other, and we'd be, like, 'Oh, hey. Good to see you.' So we knew each other for several years before actually we started dating. And we just happened to run into each other right place right time; both of us were single at the time. It was, like, 'Oh, hey,' and [I was] seeing him in a different light."

She continued: "It's weird. I was never attracted to him when I knew him as a friend. I was always, like, 'Fuck, Lars is the nicest guy.' You guys know — we meet so many people, and it's, like, sometimes, especially for me, people don't remember my name, and it's, like, 'What's your name again?' And Lars would always make a point to come up and say, 'Hey, Jess. How're you doing?', and was just the sweetest guy. But, like I said, most times we hung out, we were both with our respective exes. I was so in love with my ex — to this day I love him — so I never looked at Lars like that at all. But like I said, we just ran into each other right place right time; we were both single. And it was, like, 'Oh, hey.' I just saw him in a completely different light. And we've been together ever since."

Asked by podcast co-host Derrick Green (SEPULTURA) if it's hard dating a musician, Miller said: "I don't know. Of course. I could understand… Especially for someone who doesn't know or isn't used to this kind of traveling. I get it. So if I were someone who didn't know that, I could see how it would be difficult. Like if I had a nine-to-five job and my husband was off for two weeks or three weeks or four weeks at a time doing God knows what and I just didn't know, I can understand that. But I get it. I've been doing the same thing, the same gig, in that sense, with traveling for so long. And I'm grateful that, especially with modeling, I could kind of travel from anywhere for a job. So I could go with Lars… I'm on the road with him most of the time. And I love it. I love being around music. So in that sense, it's not hard.

"He'll even say it — he's the biggest METALLICA fan on the planet," Jessica added. "So he's also such a giant music fan. We both just love music. So for me, it's not hard at all [laughs], to be honest. It's really wonderful. He's my best friend."

In recent years, Jessica has been an animal rights activist. According to Animal Place, it was when she adopted her four kittens that Jessica went from catwalk to cat mom and her lifelong compassion for animals went to another level. She found herself going vegetarian and volunteering at a local cat shelter. But then, after further investigating what animals endure in the dairy and egg industries, she made the switch to vegan, recognizing that all animals deserve the same compassion and respect as her own four.

Ulrich, 59, and Miller got engaged in July 2013 and married two years later. This is the third marriage for Lars, who was previously married to Debbie Jones and Skylar Satenstein.

Ulrich has two sons, Myles and Layne, with Satenstein, and a third boy, Bryce, with Danish actress Connie Nielsen.

This past February, Ulrich took to his Instagram to wish Miller a happy 39th birthday, and he wrote in an accompanying message: "Happiest Birthday baby!!! Here's to all the light you shine on those around you, the warmth you spread wherever you roam, and the endless next level good vibes and curious, infectious, positive energy that effect everyone you spend time with.

"Another trip around the Sun. Wow, strap in, they orbit fast, but I'm grateful to be sharing the adventures and the crazy cool times with you beautiful creature.

"From one scarf wearing metal head trying to figure it all out to another…
I love you!!"

Photo courtesy of Lars Ulrich's Instagram