Larry Birkhead and Anna Nicole Smith's Relationship Explained in 6 Clicks

Anna Nicole Smith met Larry Birkhead while filming her reality show at the famous Barnstable-Brown Gala in May 2003 before the Kentucky Derby.

Looking back at the moment, the photographer and real estate investor told The Wendy Williams Show in 2017 how he was attracted to Smith's "real woman" side.

"There were two different personalities," said Birkhead. "The Anna Nicole that everyone saw was kind of more an act — she would put this different voice on, it was like a baby voice ... but she was always in on the joke."

He continued, "I came to know her at some events away from the camera ... with no makeup on, just hanging out with all the kids and giving money and time [at charity events] — things that you don't hear people talk about when they talk about Anna. And that's kind of when our relationship grew."

In his interview with the Daily Mail in 2023, Birkhead revealed that Smith asked him to leave his Kentucky home to live with her in Los Angeles after their second encounter in 2004.

"I think when she came back in 2004 to the party that her confidence had changed. And she was a totally different person. The second year when she came back that is when the magic happened," he said.

Birkhead added, "She was blowing me kisses, but I thought she was doing that for everyone. Being flirtatious for the camera. I never thought that she would want some guy like me from Kentucky when she could have any guys who wants."

After agreeing to Smith's offer, Birkhead moved in with the Playboy model to become her personal photographer. However, their love bloomed as they lived together for two-and-a-half years.

Smith also got pregnant with their child, though she claimed that her baby's father was her longtime attorney, Howard K. Stern.

"We were living together and doing baby planning. We were picking out names for our baby," Larry told the Daily Mail. "Despite what anyone says, Anna knew I was the father."

On September 7, 2006, Anna Nicole gave birth to her baby and named her Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern.

With the To the Limit star's death in February 2007, several men came forward claiming they were the father of Dannielynn. An April 2007 DNA test confirmed that Larry was the baby's father.

"Thank you for your support. Thank you for the people who got me this far. Thank you very much. My baby's gonna be coming home pretty soon. Things are moving quickly here, and we'll see what happens," the patriarch said after the results came in.

Prior to Anna Nicole's death, she was in a relationship with her legal counsel.

Howard represented the Illegal Aliens star in her case against E. Pierce Marshall.

"I wanted more than a lawyer relationship, and then started kind of flirting with him and we kind of got it on," Anna Nicole told Entertainment Tonight. "I just kind of attacked him and that was it. I kissed him first. He was the shy one. He was like, 'I can't, I can't,' because he always had to go by the books. I knew I was in love the first time I kissed him."

Nearly two decades after Anna Nicole's death, Larry and Dannielynn shared how they have kept the Be Cool star's legacy alive.

"We talk about her a lot at home, and share stories and funny things," Dannielynn told E! News. "And we have some things around the house that belong to her, like painting with some very choice words written on the back."

Larry also started bringing Dannielynn to the Kentucky Derby.

"I think the one year the babysitter canceled," said the patriarch. "And then it became I brought her when she was able to kind of walk and do her own thing down the carpet, and then it became a tradition."

Walking the red carpet at the event has reportedly become their way to pay tribute to Anna Nicole.