Rumors of cheating, and a shocking confession – or
was it all a joke? Though they seemed like one of the happiest couples in Hollywood,
Shakira and Gerard Pique just weren't meant to be. What went wrong? Keep watching to learn more.
Shakira has been very vocal
about some of the tougher times in her life that may have put a bit of a strain
on her relationship with Gerard Piqué. In 2017, Shakira experienced depression
following a hemorrhage of her vocal cord, which left her in a very dark place.
The injury was so bad that the star was forced to cancel a slew of tour dates across the world,
and she described the experience as serving up some of the most difficult days of her career
on Twitter. When announcing her canceled shows, she called the situation a nightmare, writing,
"I've never been faced with a situation like this."
The star also spoke openly about how that very difficult time in her life
affected her relationship with her longtime love, telling The Guardian in 2019,
"[Piqué] jokes that you would think you would want your wife to shut
up — but when I had to remain quiet, he felt like one of those ex-convicts
who are given their freedom and don't know what to do with it."
Shakira also shed more light on her mental state at the time, confessing,
"I was not positive. I was so pessimistic. I was a
bitter person to be around. Gerard saw the worst of me."
Gerard Piqué made a pretty eyebrow raising claim in March 2022 — just weeks before his split with
Shakira was announced — when he joked that he preferred riling up soccer fans and getting wolf
whistled to getting intimate with his wife. During a lengthy chat on The Wild Project, Piqué said,
"I'm happy that Espanyol has been promoted to the first division because that's how
we play in their stadium. I like to go there, I get whistled at all the time.
You laugh and the fans get even madder. There is nothing comparable in the world.
I would say it's better than sex. I enjoy it a lot more than playing against Real Madrid."
That's not the only time the athlete may have left Shakira blushing by speaking out about
their time behind closed doors, though. In March 2019, during an appearance on the Spanish TV show
La Resistencia, Piqué was asked how many times he had gotten intimate that month.
He then responded, in Spanish, "Should I count the ones at the Bernabeu?", which
appeared to be a nod to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and his team beating Real Madrid there.
Shakira and Gerard Piqué were together for almost 12 years
and welcomed two children before they split — but they never actually made it official.
Piqué appeared to suggest not tying the knot was mainly his partner's idea. Fellow soccer
player Gary Neville admitted he thought Piqué and Shakira were married during an interview posted
mere weeks before their breakup was announced, to which Piqué clarified he wasn't, saying,
"Yeah, it's her mentality. I like it how we are right now. We have two kids,
nine and seven right now."
"We work good as a couple. We don't have the needs to be married, it's fine."
Equally, Shakira admitted marriage wasn't for her
during a joint interview with Piqué on 60 Minutes in 2020. Host Bill Whitaker said,
"For all intents and purposes, you two are married."
Shakira immediately clarified, saying,
"We're not married. To tell you the truth, marriage scares [...] me.
I don't want him to see me as the wife. I'd rather him see me as his girlfriend."
"I want him to think that anything's possible depending on behavior."
Shakira also explained her stance to Glamour in 2014,
telling the outlet that she didn't think marriage would change their relationship and
confessed that if she'd ever walk down the aisle with anyone, it would be with Piqué.
Could parenting struggles
have played a part in the demise of Shakira and Gerard Piqué's relationship?
Shakira has been vocal about how difficult she's found parenthood, revealing in 2015 that she and
Piqué want their two boys to have the most normal upbringing possible — despite their
superstar statuses. Talking about it during a Fisher Price Happy Factor Panel, the star said,
"It's one of the most difficult things I've done in my life.
I've been on the most challenging stages performing in front of really demanding
audiences and I've been meeting with world leaders who sometimes make you
a little bit apprehensive, but nothing has made me so self-conscious as being a mom."
Noting she questions daily if she's doing things right, she added,
"I just want to improve in the job, the hardest job on earth."
Shakira doubled down on that to Entertainment Tonight Canada in July 2021,
revealing she doesn't play her music for their kids, explaining,
"I can't deny they can't escape the reality that I'm a public person, as well as their dad"
"But we try to provide as much normalcy as we can, and live really as very simple people."
Of course, that's got to be pretty tough when you're one of the world's most famous singers
and your husband is a hugely popular soccer star. Shakira alone is worth $300 million,
while Piqué is thought to have a net worth of $80 million.
Shakira and Gerard Piqué
haven't exactly been shy when it comes to their relationship on social media and in interviews,
though fans noticed that both appeared to be a little absent on one another's
accounts in the weeks and months that led up to the announcement of their split.
Piqué hadn't appeared on his girlfriend's Instagram grid since March 2022,
in what could now serve as his last ever snap on her account. That time,
the star posted a gushing tribute to her man after he played soccer in a whopping
600 matches. The singer really showered her man with affection, writing in the caption in Spanish,
"You are the best example of struggle, perseverance and sincerity for our children.
These years with you I have realized that you came to this world to change paradigms."
She then signed off by writing, now bitter-sweetly,
"Because there is not, nor will there be another Gerard Piqué. An exceptional human being."
As for Shakira, she hadn't been spotted on her now former boyfriend's Instagram page in quite a
while. Since August 2021, in fact. For what could now be the last time Shakira appears on his grid,
he shared a selfie from what appeared to be a loved-up vacation alongside the caption,
"Holiday vibes."
Every couple has things that cause a little friction between them.
That thing for Shakira and Gerard Piqué? Punctuality.
Shakira opened up about the big thing she and her now former partner never saw eye to eye on,
just four months before they announced their split, explaining on Planet Weirdo with Holly H,
"My poor husband, slash boyfriend, slash baby daddy, whatever you want to call him,
he has to wait up for me so long. He's tired of waiting up.
Because Colombian time is not the same as Catalonian time, Spanish time."
But it's not just timekeeping that may have weight heavy on the two.
One thing Shakira may have no choice but to be on time for is court,
as the star was infamously facing a huge tax evasion lawsuit at the time of their split,
which also could potentially have contributed to any potential tension.
"The Colombian pop singer might have to stand trial for alleged tax evasion."
Shakira has been accused of allegedly not paying €14.5 million euros,
or around $15.5 million dollars, in taxes to the Spanish government. The star and her team have
denied any wrongdoing, though it was reported in May 2022 the case could come to trial.
Okay, so here's where things get pretty messy. Unconfirmed reports have suggested
Gerard Piqué may have allegedly been unfaithful to Shakira, with the Spanish outlet El Periodico
claiming in June 2022 that she'd supposedly caught her partner with another woman. The site claimed
Piqué had allegedly moved out of their family home as a result, and had been partying more
amid their split. El Periodico even went on to claim in another story shared shortly after the
initial bombshell that the woman Piqué may have allegedly cheated with was a hostess in her 20s.
Neither Shakira nor Piqué have confirmed the allegations though,
and other outlets have denied there was any infidelity between the two.
One journalist even claimed the now former couple hadn't been too close for a while but
were putting on a united front. Jose Antonio Aviles said on the Spanish show Viva la Vida,
"Someone very, very close to Piqué has assured me that there was no infidelity on his part. There is
a great surprise at the breakup and the statement that Shakira has sent. Their agreement was, 'You
do what you want and I'll do what I want,' but to present themselves as a couple to the public."
Some fans speculated Shakira could have been referencing her apparent
relationship problems in her music, with various fan outlets, including Miami.com,
suggesting "Te Felicito" with Rauw Alejandro could be about her split with Piqué. The
April 2022 track features some pretty telling lyrics, including, translated from Spanish,
"To complete you I broke myself into pieces / They warned me, but I didn't listen / I
realized that your love is false / It was the straw that broke the camel's back."
She then alludes further to lying, singing,
"Don't tell me you're sorry / That seems sincere, but I know you well, and I know you lie."
Plenty speculated about the lyrics on social media, asserting that
the Shakira track was a thinly-veiled song about her relationship with Piqué.
However, others denied the song could be about him. Someone suggested the song might
have been written before Shakira's March 2022 Instagram post, tweeting,
"What I'm struggling to understand is if Te Felicito is really about Piqué,
why did Shakira make those posts on March 13
calling him 'an exceptional human being' and [...] acknowledging his 'heroism.'"
Shakira and Piqué are yet to publicly confirm what went wrong as of this video,
but they're seemingly determined to co-parent together. Mere days after confirming their split,
the Daily Mail reported they were spotted together at their son's baseball game.
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