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Shakira and soccer player Gerard Piqué are having one messy breakup and it’s partly related to a jar of strawberry jam.
The Colombian singer and Piqué were together for 11 years before calling it quits last year. They met back in 2010 while on the set of Shakira’s music video “Waka Waka.” At the time, Shakira’s eyes lit up as she found herself attracted to the former center-back. After going social media official in March 2011, the couple welcomed their first child together, a boy named Milan soon after. From the outside looking in, things seemed to be going great between the couple. However, the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer began giving hints last year that things weren’t as peachy as they seemed.
In June 2022, the couple, who now have a total of two sons together, announced their split in a joint statement. And while fans of the former couple tried putting the pieces together, Shakira seemingly gave hints about their breakup in two songs that dropped in early 2023. There was a story alleging that Shakira grew suspicious that Piqué was being unfaithful after someone ate her strawberry jam while she was away on the road.
From how they met to the fallout of their relationship and now Piqué going Instagram official with a new woman, here’s everything you need to know about the former couple.
How Shakira and Piqué met
When: 2010
Shakira and Piqué met on the set of her music video for “Waka Waka.” The track was the official anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and featured many soccer stars, including Piqué. During an interview in 2020 on CBS’ 60 Minutes, the singer recalled being attracted to the soccer star. “When I saw the video, I was like, ‘Hmm, that one's kind of cute.’ And then someone decided to introduce us,” she recalled.
One year later, there was no stopping their romance. The couple made things social media official in March 2011. She shared a photo of the two of them together at the time. “Les presento a mi sol…” she wrote in the caption, which translates to: “I present to you my sun.” The following year, the two made their red carpet debut as a couple to attend the Fifa Ballon d'Or Gala in Zurich, Switzerland.
Shakira and Pique welcomed their first child
When: January 2013
On Jan. 22, 2013, Piqué and Shakira welcomed their first child together, a son named Milan. “We are happy to announce the birth of Milan Piqué Mebarak, son of Shakira Mebarak and Gerard Piqué,” the singer wrote on her website. “Just like his father, baby Milan became a member of FC Barcelona at birth.”
During an interview with Us Weekly three months later, the singer described Piqué as a hands-on dad. “He changes diapers, he bathes him, he enjoys playing with the baby, he enjoys feeding him, all of that stuff,” she said. “So that's a great help for me, you know. I can't imagine doing all of this and not having the father do his part of the job. So that's a huge help to me.”
The couple would later welcome another son Sasha in January 2015.
Shakira says she doesn’t believe in marriage
When: June 2014
During an interview with Glamour, the singer spoke candidly about her views on marriage. She explained that while marriage isn’t a priority for her, she would be open to the idea with Piqué. “We have a union, a love for each other, and a baby. I think that those aspects of our relationship are already established, and marriage is not going to change them. But if I'm ever going to get married, he's the one,” she explained.
Speaking about marriage nearly six years later on an episode of 60 Minutes, Shakira confessed that she was scared to legally tie the knot. “To tell you the truth, marriage scares the s–t out of me. I don't want him to see me as the wife. I'd rather him see me as his girlfriend,” she said.
She continued, “His lover, his girlfriend. It's like a little forbidden fruit, you know? I wanna keep him on his toes. I want him to think that anything's possible depending on behavior.”
Shakira opens up about the difficulties in her relationship
When: February 2022
While appearing on the Planet Weirdo with Holly H podcast, the “Can’t Remember to Forget You” singer opened up about her and Piqué’s conversations regarding time management. She also echoed a similar sentiment while speaking with Entertainment Tonight Canada about her “poor husband.”
“My poor husband, slash boyfriend, slash baby daddy, whatever you want to call him, he has to wait up for me so long. He's tired of waiting up,” she told the outlet, “cause Colombian time is not the same as Catalonian time, Spanish time.”
She added, “His mind is structured [around punctuality] and mine… I'm a little, you know, and so I've become a lot more punctual since I met him. But the times that we actually fight are because I'm late and he's waiting up.”
Shakira and Piqué announce split
When: June 2022
In a statement to Reuters, the couple confirmed their split after more than a decade together.
“We regret to confirm that we are separating,” the former couple, who share two sons, said in the joint statement. “For the well-being of our children, who are our highest priority, we ask that you respect their privacy.”
The confirmed split came just over a decade after they walked their first red carpet together and was preceded by reports of Piqué already having taken the step of living separately from Shakira.
Shakira opens up about their breakup in an interview
When: September 2022
Speaking with Elle several months after news of the split was made public, Shakira referred to this period in her life as the “darkest hour.” She opened up about the relationship itself, saying she put “everything” she had into making it work. Shakira also spoke candidly about the sacrifices of parenthood, the high-level invasiveness of the media coverage surrounding the split, and much (so much) more.
“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,” Shakira told the publication. “But I think that women, we are resilient. You know, we have this resiliency that is just innate in all of us.”
Subtlety is out the window in the new Shakira songs
When: October 2022
On the musical side of things, the approach appeared to be far more direct. In October, Shakira dropped her single “Monotonía,” and sang about the fallout of a perfect relationship. In the video, the singer’s co-star rocked a white hoodie and gray joggers—an outfit similar to one Piqué has worn in Shakira’s 2017 video “Me Enamoré.” The track, which means “Monotony,” featuring Ozuna, marked the first Shakira song to be released after the public split announcement. While the bulk of the lyrics were not penned by the singer, fans were quick to point to a number of lyrical excerpts as having (at the very least) taken on a decidedly new meaning in light of the uncoupling.
She also took another jab at her ex in January with her appearance on producer Bizarrap’s swiftly viral “BZRP Music Sessions #53.” While the number of timely lyrical passages here are arguably too numerous to list in full, a key highlight (and one that was widely discussed among fans) was the well-placed pauses in the delivery of the words “Claramente” (calling to mind Piqué’s new girlfriend, Clara) and “Salpique” (calling to mind Piqué himself).
Shakira and Piqué agree on custody for their kids
Date: November 2022
The former couple reached a custody agreement regarding their two sons in November. “Our sole objective is to provide our children with the utmost security and protection and hope that they can continue with their lives in a safe and calm environment,” they said in a statement to People. “We appreciate that their privacy will be respected.”
An insider told the publication Shakira and the boys would be leaving Spain and moving to Miami saying, “For eight years they have been living in Barcelona, but she and the kids are moving to Miami, where all her maternal family lives.”
When: January 2023
The New York Post reported that Shakira has been keeping a mannequin resembling a witch on the balcony of her Spain home. The doll faces the direction of her neighbor, who happens to be her former mother-in-law. Shakira also sang about her former in-law in “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” singing, “You left my mother-in-law as a neighbor, with the press at the door and the Treasury debt.” According to The Sun, Piqué’s parents are considering moving to avoid Shakira’s drama.
Since news broke about Piqué and Shakira’s split, TikTok has been having a field day. Fans have also been sharing resurfaced old videos that seem to display tension between the singer, Piqué, and his mother. Several users have also posted videos in reference to the infamous jam jar drama. The videos also show fans putting on their best private detective hats to get to the bottom of the ambiguous situation.
As for how the jam-focused claims you also may have seen swirling around Shakira and Piqué in subsequent months, the best conclusion anyone has come to posits that they first appeared in a Show News Today piece, which itself cited a Socialite report. In short, the jam business allegedly goes as follows: Shakira returned home after a trip to the unfortunate discovery that someone had eaten some of her strawberry jam. Additionally, and just as allegedly, it’s claimed that neither Piqué nor the former couple’s children are particularly fond of such a condiment, a detail that had many fans theorizing that this (alleged!) discovery was a sign of infidelity.
When: January 2023
For many, the process of making a coupling Instagram official marks arguably the most important phase of a relationship, particularly a public-facing one. That appeared to prove true when Piqué went public on his official account with Clara Chia Marti in a post that has since garnered more than 4 million likes.