Story highlights Donald Trump spent as a premier New York tabloid curiosity, a billionaire real-estate developer whose marital misadventures routinely filled the city's scandal sheets

"I live a very different life than probably a lot of people would think," Trump said

New York (CNN) Donald Trump spent decades as a premier New York tabloid curiosity, a billionaire real-estate developer whose marital misadventures routinely filled the city's scandal sheets.

But he told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview that aired Sunday on "State of the Union" that those wild days are past and that he now enjoys a "very great relationship with God" and "a very great relationship" with the evangelical Christian voters so important to candidates in Iowa.

"I live a very different life than probably a lot of people would think," Trump said. "I'm talking about over the last number of years, I'm leading a very good life. I try to lead a good life and I have. And frankly, (it's) the reason I'm doing so well in Iowa."

Trump, now married to his third wife, Melania, for nearly 11 years, first got hitched in 1977 to another glamorous European model, Ivana Zelnickova. They had three children, including daughter Ivanka, now a successful businesswoman in her own right.

But Trump's marriage exploded in 1990, and rumors filled the gossip pages that he'd not quite lived up to his vows.

Donald Trump dips Marla Maples after the couple married in a private ceremony amid tight security at the Plaza Hotel December 20, 1993, following a six-year courtship.

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