Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

Star of themonth, Miss Jamaica World 2007 Yendi Phillipps may be a public figure but she says her relationship is private.

The 22-year-old beauty queen says she is in a relationship with a man that she has been friends with for years, but she does not believe it is important for the public to know who he is.

She explained that she keeps her partner's identity private 'to protect him'. "He is a very sociable person, and I feel that people are going to look on and judge him even when they don't know him," she told THE STAR.

She added, "You can only give so much of yourself to the public. That's why it is called a personal life."

Yendi says she is not planning to get married soon, but she aspires to being a good wife, mother and homemaker.

"I think that when you are in any form of long-term relationship, you stay in it to see how far it can go," she said, while noting that she admired the 23-year marriage her parents had before her mother died.

Though she is in a committed relationship, Yendi says she still has many admirers and she feels humbled by the fact that people think she is attractive. Thus, she has no problems when people approach her as long as this is done respectfully.