At 89, Priscilla Presley’s Ex Mike Stone Finally Opens Up — And Reveals Elvis Presley’s Biggest Secret
For decades, the name Mike Stone has lingered quietly in the shadows of the Elvis Presley legacy — a martial arts instructor, former champion, and most notably, the man Priscilla Presley fell in love with after her marriage to Elvis began to fracture. Their affair was once whispered about in tabloids, viewed by many as the beginning of the end for one of America’s most iconic couples.
Now, at 89 years old, Mike Stone is finally speaking out — not in bitterness, but with reflection — and in doing so, he has revealed a deeply personal secret about Elvis Presley that few ever knew. It’s not scandalous. It’s not tabloid fodder. It’s something far more human — and heartbreakingly real.
The Love Triangle That Changed Everything
Mike Stone first met Priscilla Presley in the early 1970s, when he was hired as her karate instructor. At the time, her marriage to Elvis was already under pressure — strained by his erratic schedule, emotional distance, and rumored infidelities.
What began as training soon grew into something more. Priscilla, in later interviews, would admit she felt seen and respected in a way she hadn’t for years. Their relationship eventually led her to leave Elvis in 1972.
The public judged her. Elvis’s inner circle vilified Stone. But what almost no one knew was how Elvis truly felt — until now.
Mike Stone Reveals Elvis’s Private Pain
In a recent interview with a Hawaiian radio station, Stone spoke for the first time in depth about his side of the story. And in doing so, he shared a moment that stunned even longtime Presley historians.
“Elvis called me once. Just once,” Stone said quietly.
“It wasn’t to yell. It wasn’t to threaten me. He just asked… ‘Did she ever talk about me?’”
According to Stone, Elvis’s voice was trembling — not with anger, but with pain.
“He said, ‘I know I lost her… but did she still love me? Even a little?’”
That question — raw, simple, and heartbreaking — revealed a truth Elvis never let the public see: that beneath the charisma, power, and swagger, he never stopped loving Priscilla, even after she walked away.
The Secret Elvis Never Admitted Publicly
Mike Stone says Elvis confessed something else in that brief phone call — something he never shared in interviews, memoirs, or with his fans.
“He said, ‘I didn’t know how to be the man she needed. I only knew how to be Elvis.’”
That line — just a few words — was a quiet admission that Elvis Presley, for all his talent and fame, struggled with intimacy, vulnerability, and emotional expression. The “Elvis” the world adored often got in the way of the man Priscilla needed — and he knew it.
Stone said he didn’t respond with gloating or guilt. He simply told Elvis the truth:
“She always spoke of you with love. Even when it hurt her.”
No Enemies, Just Wounds
Surprisingly, Stone holds no bitterness. He said he never wanted to be part of a scandal — he simply cared for a woman who had felt forgotten. And though Elvis was angry in public at times, Stone believes the King’s anger was really grief in disguise.
“We were both just men caught in a very public heartbreak,” he said.
A Closing Chapter with Grace
Mike Stone’s words don’t rewrite history. But they do fill in the silences — giving fans a rare glimpse into the emotional cost of a life lived so loudly.
Elvis Presley’s biggest secret wasn’t an affair or a conspiracy. It was that he was still a man in love, who didn’t know how to hold on — and never quite forgave himself for letting go.