Shakira says she put career ‘on hold’ so ex-partner Gerard Pique could play football
Shakira has said she put her “career on hold” for a long time to be with her former partner Gerard Pique while he played football.
The Colombian popstar and former professional Spanish footballer were together for 11 years before announcing their separation in June 2022 and have two children.
Shakira, 47, is due to release her first album in seven years – Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, which translates to Women No Longer Cry.
Reflecting on the time that has passed since she released 2017’s El Dorado, she told The Times: “For a long time I put my career on hold, to be next to Gerard, so he could play football.
“There was a lot of sacrifice for love.”
The upcoming album represents “the transformation of pain into creativity, frustration into productivity, anger into passion, vulnerability into resilience”, she said.
She added: “There were so many pieces of my life that crumbled in front of my eyes and I had to rebuild myself in a way, picking up the bones from the floor and putting them all together. And the glue that kept it all together was music.”
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December 2023: Shakira honoured with statue in Colombia
The album includes her hit single Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53, which has been referred to as a “diss track” aimed at the 37-year-old former Barcelona footballer.
Another track on the album titled Ultima (Last) also hears her sing, “Surely with time you’ll regret it / And some day you’ll want to come back to my door”, according to The Times.
Asked if this was also in relation to Pique, she replied: “Voldemort, that one that shouldn’t be mentioned? It’s hopefully the last song that I will write about this, and to him.”
She added: “I felt that there was still something there, stuck in my throat, and I needed to get it out.
“I played it to the marketing head at Sony and he started crying. I’d never seen a man cry in my studio before.”
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Over the last couple of years, the singer has also been fighting a tax dispute case in Spain, accused of failing to pay €14.5m (about £12.7m) in taxes between 2012 and 2014.
In November, she reached a deal with authorities on the morning the trial was due to begin and agreed to pay a fine of more than £6m.
Shakira said her lawyers had been “confident” the court would have ruled in her favour following a trial, but she decided to resolve the matter beforehand “with the best interest of my kids at heart, who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal wellbeing in this fight”.
Entertainment
MasterChef presenter John Torode says allegation he used racist language upheld in report
Entertainment
Gregg Wallace: Over half of allegations against MasterChef presenter substantiated, including one of unwanted physical contact
An investigation into Gregg Wallace’s “inappropriate behaviour” on MasterChef has found that more than half of the allegations against him have been substantiated, including one of “unwanted physical contact”.
MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK shared a summary of its report into historical allegations of misconduct against the 60-year-old presenter, carried out by independent law firm Lewis Silkin over seven months.
The report also said the number of sustained allegations made Wallace’s return to MasterChef “untenable”.
The investigation heard evidence from 78 witnesses, including 41 complainants.
There were 83 allegations against Wallace, and 45 of them were substantiated. All were related to MasterChef.
While the majority of the substantiated allegations related to inappropriate sexual language and humour, a smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated.
One allegation of unwanted physical contact was substantiated.
Nearly all the allegations against Wallace were related to behaviour which is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2018, with just one substantiated allegation taking place post-2018.
Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2014
Ahead of the publication of the summary, Wallace had said he had been “cleared of the most serious and sensational accusations” made against him.
Additionally, the report summary found that there were also 10 standalone allegations about other people between 2012 and 2018/2019, two of which were substantiated. Those people were not named in the summary.
The investigation found that complaints had previously been raised with the production company between 2005 and 2024.
Gregg Wallace on MasterChef. Pic: BBC/ Shine TV 2024
While the report flagged inadequate reporting procedures prior to 2016, when Endemol merged with Shine ahead of Banijay acquiring Endemol Shine in 2020, it said there were significant improvements to HR processes and training after 2016.
While the investigation said some formal action was taken by the BBC in 2017, it also noted the corporation held no information regarding concerns raised over Wallace centrally, resulting in issues being addressed as a first offence.
Sky News has tried to contact Gregg Wallace for contact today.
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