Shania Twain has revealed she won’t forget her cheating ex-husband Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange’s ‘mistake’, but she will try to understand him.
The 58-year-old singer was married to Robert, 75, who cheated on her from 1993 until their divorce in 2008 with her former best friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud.
The pair famously had a couple swap when Shania married Marie-Anne’s former husband Frédéric Thiébaud, 54, six months after her divorce was finalized.
Shania revealed that while she has some forgiveness for her ex, she won’t “necessarily forget” what he did as she admitted she was “sad for him.”
I talk to Jamie Laing about his Great business podcastshe explained that despite his past problems, he deserves empathy and understanding.
Shania Twain, 58, has revealed she won’t forget the ‘mistake’ of her cheating ex-husband Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange, 75, but she will try to understand him (pictured in April)
The singer was married to Robert, who cheated on her with her former best friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud, from 1993 until their split in 2008 (photo in 2000)
When asked about Robert and forgiveness, she said, “Forgiveness runs in the family of letting go. But forgiveness, more specifically for me, is not necessarily about forgetting. It’s about understanding the other person, and that may mean that he is wrong.
“You may forever believe that whatever they did was wrong. Or maybe you believe that… As in my father’s better example, okay, because this is someone I completely forgive.
“But I understand that things weren’t going well for him, that you don’t behave a certain way unless there’s something wrong with you.
‘I think it’s a shame that he had those problems. So it’s not for him, not for, you know. So it is very difficult to hate or not be able to forgive someone you believe.
‘He is a human being who deserves empathy and understanding. I think we all do that, you know. If you’re a criminal, you know, just because you are, you don’t hate your own parents, or I’m speaking for myself, you know.
“So, do I hate my ex-husband because he made a mistake? No. It’s his fault. Not my fault. So sad for him that he made such a big mistake that he has to live with. And I don’t know what that is, but it’s not that. That’s not my weight.’
Shania previously revealed that Robert and her former girlfriend Marie-Anne were still married 15 years after their affair came to light.
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast with co-hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, the Man! I Feel Like A Woman singer revealed she and Robert co-parent son Eja, 22, but never speak.
Shania revealed that while she has some forgiveness for her ex, she won’t “necessarily forget” what he did, as she admitted she feels “sad for him.”
Speaking to Jaime Laing (pictured) on his Great Company podcast, she explained that despite his past problems, he deserves empathy and understanding
Shania previously revealed that Robert and her former girlfriend Marie-Anne were still married 15 years after their affair came to light (pictured with Robert in 2003)
Shania married Marie-Anne’s former husband Frédéric Thiébaud six months after her divorce was finalized in 2011 (photo 2018)
She said: ‘Mutt and I are good at parenting together – for people who don’t talk to each other. We just text.
‘We both love our son so much, so we don’t play games like that. We have the same priority; we share spaces for him. No nonsense there.
She confirmed that Robert was still with Marie-Anne and spoke about the beginning of her relationship with Frédéric, calling the romance a “beautiful surprise” and “what she deserved.”
She joked about the couple “playing musical chairs” when they swapped, but said she “didn’t really know Fred that well” before they broke up.
Shania said she saw “how gracious and kind he was in dealing with the same pain” after the affair came to light, and although she felt “vulnerable,” he seemed “thoughtful.”
She said, ‘Fréd is so smart. This is one of the smartest people I know, [and] he didn’t know [about the affair] or. That helped me feel better. I have what I deserve. I have the greatest husband in the world.’
Shania found out about her ex and her best friend’s affair the day after he asked her for divorce.
She previously said of the moment: ‘I had a total panic attack. I just told her she was a bad person; I couldn’t say more about it!’
“When I left her, I thought, ‘You’re such a wimp, you coward!’
Shania and Marie-Anne were very good friends. They had met when Marie-Anne was hired as an assistant and interpreter for the singer’s husband, Lange.
Shania is pictured with former best friend Marie-Ann
The couple had moved to Switzerland for a simpler life away from the spotlight after the country star saw her career skyrocket and become a best-selling crossover artist.
In the days following the 2008 split, Shania said she went into a downward spiral.
“I was ready to die,” she wrote in her memoir From This Moment On, saying she barely ate or slept.
She says she even wrote an email to Marie-Anne to beg her husband back: “I’m dying, and I can’t take it anymore. This is killing me. Have mercy’.
But even though she begged, she was never given any explanation or details about her husband or Marie-Anne’s relationship.
What had made the pain worse is that she had confided in Marie-Anne about the problems in her marriage and her fears that she thought Lange was having an affair.
But Marie-Anne ignored Shania’s concerns and told her there was nothing to worry about, making her feel “silly” for even suggesting it.
When she finally gathered the courage to ask her if something was going on between her and her husband, Marie-Anne tearfully told her, “I am heartbroken that you would even think that I was hiding something from you .’
But Frederic was the one who finally told Shania the truth.
He told her he had found phone bills, hotel information and receipts and that he remembered seeing a garter belt and lingerie in the luggage for a trip she was taking “alone.”
In the book, Shania wrote, “I was disgusted that another woman’s lust for a lifestyle upgrade was worth the destruction of my family.”
But in what has turned out to be a ‘twisted’ bit of irony. Shania and Marie-Anne’s ex-husband turned to each other in times of need and found friendship that grew into love.
The couple eventually married in January 2011 in an intimate beach ceremony in Puerto Rico.
She said: ‘I don’t take a single day for granted anymore. Fred has given me a new love deal.”
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast with co-hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, the Man! I Feel Like A Woman singer revealed she and Robert co-parent son Eja, 22, ‘but never speak’ (pictured in 2000)
Shania said she was initially hesitant about dating her love rival’s ex-husband and was “worried about what people would think of the relationship.”
But Frédéric won over Shania little by little and calls his new bride ‘Sunshine’.
He has surprised her with romantic gestures, such as flying her to a Swiss glacier and renting out a movie theater for an intimate dinner for two.
‘To express my love, words are not enough. I fall more in love with her every day,” Frédéric said.