Lea Michele Reveals Pre-‘Glee' Connection To Ricky Martin

"He was in 'Les Mis' with me when I was 8 years old on Broadway," she says

Lea Michele and the McKinley High crew are about to welcome Ricky Martin to "Glee," an artist with whom she has a special connection.

"[I've known] Ricky since [I was] 8 years old," Lea told Access Hollywood as she promoted her first feature film, "New Year's Eve," over the weekend.

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The two crossed paths in the famed Broadway musical "Les Miserables."

"He was in 'Les Mis' with me when I was 8 years old on Broadway," Lea, now 25, said. "I adore him. I think he would be great."

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The cast hasn't officially been told about Ricky's "Glee" guest spot for an episode set to air next year, but she was aware several celebrities were heading to the show.

"I have heard the rumors about Ricky and Gloria Estefan. Ryan [Murphy, 'Glee' co-creator] told me that we have four major stars coming onto the show," she said.

The superstar action heading to "Glee" comes after months of a back-to-basics approach for the FOX hit.

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"We're on episode 10 of 22," she said. "We really did take it back to basics, focusing on the main characters. It's going to amp up again. We're going back now to — I know we're doing a theme episode of probably the most famous artist in the entire world. We're doing an episode of their music."

While she wouldn't say which artist she was referring to, Lea said "Glee" has done this superstar's tunes on the show before.

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"We've done two of their songs before. Now we're doing a whole episode of their stuff," she said, offering another hint.

"We have some big celebrities coming on the show," Lea added. "We have some shockers, some huge shocking stuff that when I read the script, I threw the script across the room, I called my cast members and I was like, 'Did you read the last page?' It's going to get really exciting."

"New Year's Eve" will hit theaters on December 9.

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