It’s October 1996, and Magnificent Seven gymnast Dominique Dawes‘ Orlando hotel room phone rings.
She picks up and listens to a deep, raspy voice on the other end.
“Someone that claimed to be Prince,” Dawes remembers.
She thinks it’s a prank. Dawes hangs up.
Soon after, Dawes receives another call. It’s her agent.
“That actually was Prince,” Dawes’ agent says, “so you might want to chat with him.”
Prince was calling to ask Dawes to perform in one of his music videos. They eventually spoke.
“He did say he’s a big fan, impressed with my gymnastics, something along those lines,” Dawes, now a mother of two, said in a phone interview Thursday.