Star Footballer Gerard Piqué Breaks Silence on Split With Ex-Girlfriend Shakira

Star footballer Gerard Piqué has finally broken his silence on his break-up with Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira. The couple called it quits in June 2022. The Hips Don’t Lie singer’s 36-year-old former partner – who has sons Milan, 10, and eight-year-old Sasha with Shakira – broke up with her last year after a 12-year relationship, and has now talked about how overjoyed he is with the “changes in my life,” including his new relationship with his 23-year-old girlfriend, Clara Chia.

Piqué, in a new interview with El Pais, has addressed the spilt with Shakira and his responsibility for his children, Milan and Sasha. While Gerard did not open up about how the break-up affected him, he said that he is happy and "still doing" what he wants. He added that he won’t "waste money on cleaning up" his image after reports of him cheating on Shakira being the reason for their separation started making rounds. 

As quoted by Billboard, Gerard told El Pais, “Everyone has their responsibility to do what’s best for their kids. It’s about protecting them. That’s the job of all parents with their kids. That’s what I’m focused on and that’s my role as a father.” When asked how the separation from Shakira affected him, Gerard said that he "won’t say, I don’t want to".

Talking about his relationship with Clara and the media, he said, “The problem is how people perceive things or how the press packages it. I’m still doing what I want. I want to be faithful to myself. I’m not gonna waste money on cleaning up my image. The people that I love and worry about are the people that know me. The rest, I don’t care. I’m putting my energy into the people that are closest to me and giving them what I have. I’m very happy. There’s been changes in my life and I’ve known how to preserve that happiness.”

Last month, Shakira also opened up about finding her strength again after ending the 11-year relationship. According to the Independent, during an interview with En Punto con Enrique Acevedo, Shakira noted that she was focusing on herself, only weeks after Piqué went Instagram official with his new girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti.

“I’ve always been very emotionally dependent [on men] – I have to confess this. I was in love with love,” she said, per People's translation. “One way or another, I’ve managed to learn it from another perspective and feel that I’ll be fine on my own.”

She continued: “When a woman has to face [hardships] in life, she comes out stronger. When you come out stronger it means you’re learning to recognize your weaknesses and accept your vulnerability.” Similar to Piqué, the Hips Don’t Lie singer has been prioritizing her children since the split, and she said that she now feels complete with her sons. “I feel complete – because I feel like I can depend on myself and I have two kids who depend on me,” she said. “I have to be stronger than a lion.”