The interaction of the fluorophore Lucifer yellow with micelles has been monitored using steady state and time resolved fluorescence techniques. Contrary to the popular belief that the fluorophore is too polar to associate with the stern layer or hydrophobic core of micelles, we have observed that it binds with the micelles of the positively charged surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide and that such interaction causes an decrease in the rates of its non-radiative processes. This phenomenon cannot be explained solely in the light of a reduced polarity, as we have demonstrated that the photophysics of Lucifer yellow is complex and intramolecular charge transfer does not seem to be the only excited state process that is operative. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.