For Lady Gaga, there was a certain green flag that came from her first moment with fiancé Michael Polansky. In an interview with The New York Times Magazine on March 8, the "Abracadabra" hitmaker revealed the wholesome quality that drew her to the businessman, 46. "From the moment that I met Michael, he had the most warm and kind disposition of maybe anyone that I had met in my whole life," Gaga, 38, told the publication. "Yes, he was impressive, but the thing I cared about the most was he wanted to know about my family. At that point during the conversation, the Mayhem musician began to cry. "I guess what I’m trying to say is, I knew Michael was genuine because he wanted to be my friend," added Gaga. "He didn’t want to do any of the things that the other people wanted to do. He wanted to take walks with me. He took me rock climbing." She noted that Polansky "inspired" her to "have more hope" about her pain condition. "I guess I know Michael is genuine because he’s my friend," said Gaga. Ultimately, the "Bad Romance" artist was "glad" she found a "friend" in Polansky. "It was really hard not having it," said Gaga. "It’s not a good feeling to have so much trouble making friends. Being actually friends with somebody is a very specific thing. You can sit in a room together and not talk. You can take long walks and talk about your family. You can obsess over a new recipe and make it." Gaga continued: "I don’t think it should be transactional, but I was around a lot of that all the time. So it’s a big blessing that I met someone that was not like that. It’s a new world for me." Gaga and Polansky's were first spotted publicly during a 2020 New Year's Eve party in Las Vegas where they were photographed kissing. After enjoying a PDA-packed weekend together in Miami for the Super Bowl that year, the pair went public. In April 2024, Gaga sparked engagement rumors when she appeared to be wearing a massive diamond ring on that finger. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Months later, the "Bad Romance" artist confirmed the news of their engagement when she called Polansky her "fiancé" at the Paris Olympics. Ahead of Gaga's performance on the March 8 episode of Saturday Night Live, she spoke to Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan about why she was so direct about addressing the topic of marriage and kids when she met Polansky for the first time. "Michael flew to Vegas when I was doing my show to take me on our first date and before we even sat down, I said, ‘Do you want marriage and kids?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I do.’ And I said, ‘Okay, great, do you want some champagne?’ And he said, ‘Sure,'" she recalled.