Shania Twain has revealed she won’t forget her cheating ex-husband Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange’s ‘mistake’ – but she will try to understand it.
The singer, 58, was married to Robert, 75, who cheated on her with her former best friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud, from 1993 until their separation in 2008.
The couple famously swapped when Shania married Marie-Anne’s ex-spouse Frédéric Thiébaud, 54, six months after their divorce was finalized.
Shania revealed that while she has some forgiveness for her ex, she won’t “necessarily forget” what he did and admitted she feels “sad for him.”
Speaking to Jamie Laing on his Great company podcastHe explained that despite his previous problems, he deserves empathy and understanding.
Shania Twain, 58, has revealed she won’t forget her cheating ex-husband Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange’s ‘mistake’, 75, but will try to understand it (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 separation in 2008 (pictured in 2000).
When asked about Robert and forgiveness, he said: ‘Forgiveness is 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 could mean they are wrong.
You may forever believe that everything they did was wrong. Or maybe you believe that… As in the best example of my father, he is okay, because he is someone I totally forgive.
‘But I understand that he wasn’t right, that you don’t act a certain way unless there’s something wrong with you.
‘I feel bad because he had those problems. So, it’s not for him, it’s not for, you know. So, it is very difficult to hate or not be able to forgive someone you believe in.
‘He is a human being who deserves empathy and understanding. I think we all do it, you know? If you’re a criminal, you know, just because you are, you don’t hate your own parents or I speak for myself, you know.
‘So do I hate my ex-husband for making a mistake? No. It’s his mistake. It’s not my mistake. It is very sad for him to have made such a big mistake that he has to live with. And I don’t know what that is, but it’s not. That’s not my weight.’
Shania previously revealed that Robert and his former friend Marie-Anne were still married 15 years after their affair was revealed.
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast with co-hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, the Man! The I Feel Like A Woman singer revealed that she and her co-parent Robert’s son Eja, 22, never speak.
Shania revealed that while she is somewhat forgiving of her ex, she won’t “necessarily forget” what he did and admitted she feels “sad for him.”
Speaking to Jaime Laing (pictured) on his Great Company podcast, she explained that despite his previous issues, he deserves empathy and understanding.
Shania previously revealed that Robert and his former friend Marie-Anne were still married 15 years after their affair was revealed (pictured with Robert in 2003).
Shania married Marie-Anne’s ex-husband, Frédéric Thiébaud, six months after their divorce was finalized in 2011 (pictured in 2018).
She said: ‘Mutt and I are good parents together, for people who don’t talk to each other. We’ll just text.
‘We both love our son very much, so we don’t play games like that. We have the same priority; we share spaces for him. There’s no nonsense there.
Confirming that Robert was still with Marie-Anne, she opened up about the beginning of her relationship with Frédéric, calling the romance a “beautiful surprise” and “what he deserved.”
She joked about the couple “playing musical chairs” when they swapped, but said she “didn’t really know Fréd very well” before their respective splits.
Shania said she saw “how gracefully and gently he was dealing with the same pain” after the affair was revealed, and although she felt “fragile,” he seemed “thoughtful.”
She said: ‘Fréd is very intelligent. She is one of the smartest people I know and he didn’t know (about it either). That helped me feel better. I got what I deserve. I have the biggest man on the planet.
Shania found out about the affair between her ex and her best friend the day after he asked her for a divorce.
He previously said of the moment: “I had a complete panic attack. I just told him he was a bad person. That’s all I could say!
‘When I left her, I thought: “You’re a coward!”‘
Shania and Marie-Anne were very close friends. They met when Marie-Anne was working as an assistant and performer for the singer’s husband, Lange.
Shania is pictured with her former best friend Marie-Ann
The couple had moved to Switzerland to live a simpler life away from the spotlight after the country star saw her career skyrocket to become a hugely successful crossover artist.
In the days after the split in 2008, Shania said she went into a tailspin.
“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 to come back, writing: “I’m dying and I can’t take it anymore.” This is killing me. Have compassion.’
But although she pleaded, she never received an explanation or any details about the relationship from either her husband or Marie-Anne.
What made the pain worse was that he had confided in Marie-Anne about the problems in his marriage and his fears that Lange was having an affair.
But Marie-Anne dismissed Shania’s concerns and told her she had nothing to worry about, making her feel “silly” for even suggesting it.
When she finally worked up the courage to ask him if there was something between her and her husband, Marie-Anne told him through tears: “It hurts me that you even think I’m hiding something from you.”
But Frederic was the one who finally told Shania the truth.
He informed her that he had found phone bills, hotel information and receipts and that he remembered seeing a garter belt and lingerie in the luggage from a trip she was taking to be “alone.”
In the book, Shania wrote: “I was disgusted that another woman’s desire to improve her lifestyle was worth the devastation of my family.”
But in what has turned out to be a “twisted” piece of irony. Shania’s ex-husband and Marie-Anne sought out each other during their time of need and found a friendship that turned into love.
The couple finally married in January 2011 in an intimate ceremony on the beach in Puerto Rico.
She said: ‘I don’t take any day for granted anymore. Fred has given me a new chance at love.
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast with co-hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, the Man! The I Feel Like A Woman singer revealed that she and her co-parent Robert’s son Eja, 22, but never speak (pictured in 2000).
Shania said she was initially hesitant about reuniting with her love rival’s ex-husband and was “worried about what people would think of the relationship.”
But Frédéric gradually won over Shania and calls his new girlfriend “Sunshine”.
He has surprised her with romantic gestures like flying her to a Swiss glacier and renting a movie theater for an intimate dinner for two.
‘To express my love, words are not enough. Every day I am more in love with her,’ said Frédéric.