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Shakira is speaking out for the first time since parting ways with Gerard Piqué. In her October 2022 Elle cover story, the singer said she had "remained quiet" on purpose since her split from the soccer play made headlines back in early June.
“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 in the story published on Wednesday, September 21st. She also mentioned how she and Piqué's young sons, Milan and Sasha, are handling the breakup.
"And so it’s been tough not only for me, but also for my kids. Incredibly difficult,” she said. Shakira also claimed that paparazzi have been "camping outside" her house 24/7 since the news broke and she's been hard at work trying to protect her children from the drama.
Citing her ambitious career for their separation, Shakira continued, "One of the two had to make that effort and that sacrifice. And I did it. I put my career in second gear, and I came to Spain to support him so he could play [soccer] and win titles. And it was a sacrifice of love."
She felt that she "had to support" Piqué's dreams over her own. “Once Milan started school, at the end of 2014, I knew that my constant travel and nomadic existence had to be put on the back burner and my career had to be put in second gear,” she shared. "I knew that when he started school, I had to settle down, plant roots in Barcelona and be there for him and for Gerard and then later on for Sasha as well.”
While she said there are other factors behind the split, she said it's still too "raw and new" to discuss with the public. "Regardless of how things ended or how Gerard and I feel about each other as ex-partners, he is the father of my children."