Shakira, one year after news broke of her separation from longtime partner Gerard Piqué, is ready to open up about what the dissolution of their eleven-year relationship really meant for her.
The former couple, who share kids Milán, ten, and Sasha, eight, announced their split on June 8 of last year, with a statement which read: "We regret to confirm that we are parting ways. For the well-being of our children, who are our highest priority, we ask that you respect their privacy. Thank you for your understanding."
Following the news, it was later revealed that the soccer star had an affair – he is currently in a relationship with the reported woman, Clara Chia Marti – and now his ex-girlfriend is sharing how she first found out about it all.
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"It was all put together, my home was falling apart," Shakira recalled to People en Español about learning of her ex-partner's affair all the while her father, William Mebarak, 91, was getting hospitalized.
She explained: "[My father] went to Barcelona to console me when I was consumed with sadness over my separation, and while he was there during Milán's first communion, he was gravely injured in an accident."
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She revealed: "I learned through the press that I had been betrayed while my dad was in the ICU," adding: "I thought I wouldn't survive all that."
The 'Hips Don't Lie' hitmaker shared how she considers her mom, Nidia Ripoll, her partner in crime, while her dad is her best friend.
She noted: "The man that I've loved most in my life, my father, was leaving me when I most needed him, but I couldn't talk to him nor receive the advice of my best friend that I so needed then."
In the span of less than six months, and aged 91, Shakira's father survived COVID, two accidents, pneumonia, and five surgeries. The star said: "His recovery has been very hard and slow, but he is a marvelous man, and an endearing character for everyone, who always surprises us with his fortitude," adding: "My father is the biggest example of resilience, and my mom by his side day and night accompanying him."
These days, with her father in recovery and her difficult split behind her, Shakira is focusing on her two sons, her upcoming music, and her new life in Miami after leaving her home of Barcelona.
"[My sons] for me are my everything, they are my life's reason," she said, adding: "They inject an indescribable strength in me each day, and they fill my day to day with joy."
Plus, of her decades-long career in music, she added: "Music saved my life and it gave me wings to fly. It allowed me to be myself, it rescued me in the most difficult moments.
"It connected me with who I really am, when I felt like I was losing myself. When I didn't recognize myself, music was my mirror."