Shakira has described her separation from husband Gerard Pique as her “darkest hour.”
In an interview with ELLE magazine, the superstar singer opened up for the first time about leaving her husband of 11 years.
The couple met in 2010 when Shakira was recording the theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and got married the next year.
The couple separated back in June – and coupled with allegations from the Spanish government that she has evaded tax – Shakira describes the last few months as “tough” for herself and her two kids, Milan and Sasha.
“I’ve remained quiet and just tried to process it all. It’s hard to talk about it, especially because I’m still going through it, and because I’m in the public eye, and because our separation is not like a regular separation,” she said.
“And so it’s been tough not only for me but also for my kids. Incredibly difficult. 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.”
She added, “I’ve tried to conceal the situation in front of my kids. I try to do it and protect them because that’s my number one mission in life. But then they hear things in school from their friends or they come across some disagreeable, unpleasant news online, and it just affects them, you know?”
She adds that music has been her safe space, turning to the studio to let her feelings out.
“I feel like in this moment of my life, which is probably one of the most difficult, darkest hours of my life, music has brought light,” Shakira told the outlet.
She’s set to release her first studio album since 2017, and described the album-making process as “gratifying” and “therapeutic.”
She said: “I’m really, really thrilled about not only the body of work that I have right now to share with the people who are waiting for it but also how gratifying the whole process has been for me.
“How therapeutic as well. I thought I was done with my album. But every time I get in the studio to do, like, one line or something, or to mix a song that’s almost ready to come out, then I end up with new music because I feel creative right now, and I feel that is an incredible outlet for me to make sense of things.”
