Shakira is breaking her silence about her split with longtime partner Gerard Piqué. The couple ended their relationship this past summer after allegations of infidelity on the part of the fútbol star.
During an interview with Elle magazine, the singer said she had remained quiet for the last three month in an attempt to process everything that happened. She added that it’s still “hard to talk about” because she’s still experiencing it.
“I just feel like this is all a bad dream and that I’m going to wake up at some point,” Shakira said. “But no, it’s real. And what’s also real is the disappointment to see something as sacred and as special as I thought was the relationship I had with my kids’ father and see that turned into something vulgarized and cheapened by the media. This is probably the darkest hour of my life.”
Through all this, a priority for Shakira has been to shield her two sons, Milan, 9, and Sasha, 7, from the sensationalized coverage of the situation. The attempt to protect them, however, has been difficult because they hear things at school.
“Our separation is not like a regular separation,” Shakira said. “And so, it’s been tough not only for me, but also for my kids. I have paparazzi camping outside, in front of my house, 24/7. And there’s not a place where I can hide from them with my kids except for my own house. I’ve tried to conceal the situation in front of my kids. I try to do it and to protect them because that’s my number one mission in life.”
It’s through her music and her resiliency that Shakira said she has been able to survive all the turmoil she has faced in the last few months.
“For those women like me who believe in values like family who had the dream, the big dream of having a family forever, to see that dream broken or shredded into pieces is probably one of the most painful things that you can ever go through,” she said. “But I think that women, we are resilient. That is my biggest strength. That’s my most powerful engine right now.”