Shania Twain, heartbreak to new beginnings at 59
Shania Twain has proven that she can rise from the deepest lows. After being betrayed by her ex-husband and best friend, she found new love with Frédéric Thiébaud. On August 28, 2024, the country music icon turned 59.
For 15 years, Shania Twain was in a relationship with Robert "Mutt" Lange, the music producer who helped her achieve great heights in the world of country music. Their marriage fell apart in 2008 after Lange's affair with Shania's best friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud, was revealed. For Shania, it was not only a marital betrayal but also a personal one – a betrayal of friendship. This only added to the pain.
She married her lover's husband
Ironically, Marie-Anne married Robert today, and Shania found love with Frédéric Thiébaud, Marie-Anne's ex-husband. Both were deceived for months. When they learned the truth, they decided to support each other. They did not foresee that feelings would develop between them. The couple married six months after Shania and "Mutt's" divorce.
Despite the pain caused by the betrayal, Shania Twain admitted in one of her interviews that despite his infidelity, he deserves "empathy and understanding." However, she emphasized that forgiveness does not mean erasing bad memories.
"Forgiveness is in the family of letting go. But forgiveness — for me, anyway — is not about forgetting, necessarily.It’s about understanding the other person, and that might mean that they’re wrong. Maybe you believe forever that whatever they did was wrong," she said.
She endured hell in her childhood
Few people knew about the hell she endured during her childhood. Her biological father left the family when she was just two years old. For many years, she lived with a mother who suffered from depression and a stepfather who also had mental health issues, was an alcoholic, and was often very aggressive.
Interestingly, Shania compared Lange's betrayal to her relationship with her biological father.
"My father's a better example because this is someone that I totally forgive (...). I understand that he wasn’t well, that you don’t act certain ways unless there’s something wrong with you. There’s something wrong with your stability," Shania confessed.
