Ricky Martin shocked his fans when he announced last year that he and his husband, Jwan Yosef, were splitting after six years of marriage.
The Livin' La Vida Loca hitmaker, 52, and the Syrian-Swedish artist, 39, met in 2015 and tied the knot in secret in 2018.
However, in July 2023, the couple confirmed they were separating in a joint statement to People, which read: "We have decided to end our marriage with love, respect and dignity for our children and honoring what we have experienced as a couple all these wonderful years.
© Getty"Our greatest desire now is to continue having a healthy family dynamic and a relationship centered on peace and friendship to continue the joint upbringing of our children, preserving the respect and love we have for each other."
Why did Ricky and Jwan divorce?
Court documents obtained by People at the time claimed that Ricky cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the divorce.
In August 2023, he said that the decision to split from Jwan was "not a recent" one. "When the public found out, we had already gone through a grieving process," he told Telemundo.
How did Ricky meet Jwan?
The former couple met via Instagram in 2015 after Ricky stumbled across Jwan's artwork.
"I'm scrolling and I see this beautiful piece of art and I'm like, 'Whoa, how cool! Who's this?' Then I start checking and all of a sudden I'm like, 'Ooh, ooh. And then I wrote to him,'" Ricky told Andy Cohen on Radio Andy in 2017.
© Getty ImagesTheir relationship was a slow burn, with Ricky admitting it took months before they even met. "Then we were talking for like six months without me hearing his voice," he continued.
"We talked about art — nothing sexy … I swear, nothing sexy. It was all about art and life in general. He used to live in London, [so] I went to London and I met him."
The Puerto Rican star sweetly described their first meeting as "love at first sight." He said on the Mexican show Ventaneando in 2020: "When I met my husband, I saw him and said, 'I’m going to get married. During the, 'Hello, pleasure to meet you,' I thought, 'This is the love of my life.'"
Proposal
© Getty ImagesAfter developing strong feelings very quickly, Ricky wasted no time proposing to Jwan in an unconventional way. "Instead of saying, 'Will you marry me?' I said, 'I got you something,'" he told Ellen DeGeneres.
"I said, 'I want to spend my life with you.' And he was like, 'What is the question?' [I said] 'Would you marry me?'"
Wedding
They tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Los Angeles in 2018 with their family, including twins Matteo and Valentino, but he discussed plans to host a larger celebration with more friends and family, including the couple's youngest son and daughter.
© Marc Flores"I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months," he told E! News. "We exchanged vows, and we've swear [sic] everything, and we've signed all the papers that we needed to sign, prenups and everything."
He later said on Ventaneando that he wanted to have a four-day party, adding: "I believe that Renn and Lucía need to be part of this celebration as well."
Ricky Martin's children
Ricky spoke candidly about his desire to become a parent before he became a single father to twin sons Matteo and Valentino, born via a surrogate in 2008.
Ten years later, Ricky and Jwan expanded their family and welcomed daughter Lucia in 2018 followed by son Renn in 2019.
On the subject of their family dynamic, he explained to Out magazine: "My kids ask me about having two daddies and I tell them we are a part of a modern family. This is a beautiful sense of freedom."
According to court documents, Ricky and Jwan asked for joint custody of their children.
Domestic abuse allegations
In July 2022, Ricky's nephew filed a domestic abuse complaint against him and was issued a restraining order. At the time, Ricky's representatives branded the allegations that led to the restraining order as "completely false and fabricated."
"Unfortunately, the person who made this claim is struggling with deep mental health challenges. Ricky Martin has, of course, never been - and would never be - involved in any kind of sexual or romantic relationship with his nephew," Ricky's lawyer told HELLO! at the time.
"The idea is not only untrue, it is disgusting. We all hope that this man gets the help he so urgently needs. But, most of all, we look forward to this awful case being dismissed as soon as a judge gets to look at the facts," he added.
His nephew later withdrew his allegations and the case was dropped.
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