Bill Wyman has defended his controversial relationship with Mandy Smith, claiming it came 'from the heart' and was not founded on 'lust'.
The former Rolling Stones guitarist met his second wife when she was 13 and he was 47.
They married five years later in 1989, when she was 18, but she later alleged that they had sex when she was 14.
A 90-minute film about Wyman's life, The Quiet One, was withdrawn from a British documentary festival following complaints it provided a platform to a man accused of grooming a minor.
Bill Wyman has defended his controversial relationship with second wife Mandy Smith, pictured together in 1989
The film was shown at the Tribeca film festival in New York on Thursday night and included an interview with Wyman about his young ex-wife.
Wyman described Miss Smith as a 'beautiful girl', recalling the moment when they met.
'I got this invite to go to an event and there were all these people dancing,' he said. 'I saw this beautiful girl with her hair up, spoke to her and found her name was Mandy Smith.
'It was from the heart. It wasn't from lust or anything like that, which people were seeing it as.'
The film, by documentary maker Oliver Murray – which had been due to have its European premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest in June – does not address Miss Smith's age or the controversy surrounding the marriage, which ended after two years.
A clip from an interview with Wyman and Miss Smith following their wedding is also used in the documentary, during which he describes her as 'the right girl from the moment I met her'.
He said: 'She was too young. I thought she had to go out and see life for a bit'.
