Who Did Beyoncé Date Before Jay Z?

It seems like Beyoncé and Jay Z have been together forever. The hip-hop power couple, who got hitched in 2008, have been romantically involved for at least 11 years. You have to admit, that is quite a long time, especially in the entertainment industry, which has a reputation for short-lived love. But the "***Flawless" singer obviously wasn't involved with the rapper her entire life, so some fans might be wondering who Beyoncé dated before Jay Z.

As we all know, Queen Bey is notoriously private about her personal life, so she hasn't revealed many details about her past love life. But she did let it slip in a 2008 interview with The Telegraph that there was one other man in her life before she became involved with the "99 Problems" performer. She said,

People would be surprised as to the lack of experiences I've had. When I was 12, 13 I had my first boyfriend, and he was my boyfriend till I was 17. At that age, that was a long time. I've always been very loyal and a little more mature. Though I was too young for it to really be a boyfriend — we didn't live together, we didn't, you know… That was my only experience with a guy, and since then I've only had one other boyfriend in my life — Jay.

Now, the Bey Hive starting to catch a glimpse into who that "first boyfriend" is. As it turns out, his name is Lyndall Locke, and he is a chef who now owns his own catering business. But back in the day, Locke was a self-described "directionless" Texas kid who just happened to fall for the world's soon-to-be number one diva. Recently, Locke opened up to the Daily Mail about his nearly decade-long relationship with Beyoncé, which began when the two were young teenagers, and what it was like being involved with someone like her, when he had a non-superstar aspirations.

In the Daily Mail interview, Locke said he came from a broken home, so he was happy to be welcomed into the Knowles' middle-class household, which he described as "very loving." When they first started dating, Locke said he and Beyoncé did "normal" couple things. But the Knowles home wasn't your ordinary home, as many of the family resources reportedly went toward building a not-so-ordinary girl's career.

Of Beyoncé, Locke said, "She was focused and knew what she wanted. She’d started singing when she was five and her parents supported her. There was a Beyoncé train on the fast track to fame and you were either on it or off it. Some people fell off the train and others jumped."

Locke also told the Daily Mail that when the two became older, he was a bit "directionless" as a "small town kid," but at the same time, Bey was just starting to promote Destiny's Child. And well, the rest is history.

Locke first began to open up their relationship in a 2013 interview published on The Huffington Post UK. He said that they split due to the stress that came from Beyoncé's fame. That being said, Locke, who is now in a relationship, has a child, and found success in the culinary industry, does not seem bitter.

"Jay Z is a lucky dude, he's got a good one, he's got a great one," he said in the Huffington Post interview.

Can't argue with that!