Shania Twain's turbulent love life explained from two husbands and a wife swap
28 June 2024, 13:32 | Updated: 28 June 2024, 14:27
As Shania Twain performs at Glastonbury 2024, we’ve taken a look back at her life, the rollercoaster of her first marriage, his affair and how she got her happy ending with Frédéric Thiébaud.
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As Shania Twain takes to the stage at Glastonbury Festival 2024 to headline the Legends Slot, she’s going to be on top of the world.
But her life hasn’t been all sunshine and roses, in fact, her first marriage of fourteen years ended in disaster and a scandalous couple swap.
As Shania turns 59-years-old this year, we take a look back at her first husband, his illicit affair and how she ended up with Frédéric Thiébaud, whom she's celebrating 13 years of marriage with.
In her autobiography, Shania wrote, "I am actually grateful for what I've gone through and wouldn't change a thing."
"Although I admit I wouldn't want to live it over again, either. Once was enough."
Who was Shania Twain’s first husband?
Shania Twain was married to Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, a producer who first heard her music in 1990. After approaching her in 1993 to offer his services, the pair got married later that year.
They collaborated on ‘The Woman in Me’ which was released in 1995 and became a bestselling album and Shania and Robert quickly became a power couple in the music industry.
In 2001 they had their son, Eja Lange, but sadly in 2003 Shania developed Lyme disease and the illness’s effect on her vocal chords made performing live and recording music impossible.
But by 2008, Robert was filing for divorce from Shania for no obvious reason.
It later came out that he had been having a long-time affair with a friend of hers – the plot twist? It was with the ex-wife to Shania’s current husband Frédéric Thiébaud.
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Who was Frédéric Thiébaud married to?
Frédéric Thiébaud was married to Marie-Anne Thiébaud and the pair of them got acquainted with Shania and Robert when the music couple travelled to Switzerland in the 1990s.
The families became friends and ingrained in one another’s lives, as Shania hired Marie-Anne to assist her around her home and take care of the family.
"Their two families would vacation and spend holidays together," a source spoke to PEOPLE, "Shania considered Marie-Anne one of her best friends."
At the time, Marie-Anne’s husband Frédéric was a successful businessman working at Nestlé.
Why did Shania Twain and Robert Lange divorce?
Robert asked Shania for a divorce in 2008 which shocked the singer to her core. Reportedly, the request to end their 14-year-long marriage came out of the blue and Robert didn’t feel it was necessary to give Shania a reason, leaving her brokenhearted.
Speaking to Oprah on Shania’s docuseries, Why Not? with Shania Twain in 2011, she revealed that she turned to her closest friend at the time, seeking answers.
"I said, 'Marie-Anne, don't you think my husband is acting strange?' And she said, 'No, I don't see anything strange'," Shania told the TV personality, at the time, unaware that her husband and Marie-Anne were secretly having an affair.
Shania eventually got suspicious and began accusing both Robert and Marie-Anne of having an affair, to which they vehemently denied.
It wasn’t even Shania who found out the truth, it was Marie-Anne’s husband at the time, Frédéric. He spoke to Oprah later in the series, explaining "I did discover the affair with my wife and Mutt [Robert Lange].”
"I said, 'Guys, now you have to tell [Shania]. This is ridiculous. You just owe her that.'"
By 2010, Robert and Shania’s divorce was finalised and he and Marie-Anne continued their relationship at the cost of both their relationships with Shania.
“I don’t see her, ever,” Shania told the New York Post, “I don’t invite that trigger into my life. … She’s not my future — she’s my past."
Who is Shania Twain’s husband now?
Shania and Frédéric had a hard time between 2008 - 2010 with both their partners betraying them for one another, however, it was in 2009 as the pair sought solace in each other’s arms, they realised something was growing between them.
"We slowly became very, very good friends," Shania told Ellen DeGeneres in 2011. "We had many months of just trying to make sense of everything, holding each other up. It was a very difficult time emotionally for both of us. I would say he was probably stronger than I was.”
“He was a tremendous support — we were a support to each other — and really found something beautiful in the end and unexpected."
The pair were official in 2009, and after the divorce went through in 2010, Shania and Frédéric got engaged. Things moved quickly for the pair and by 2011, they were married.
Shania told the publication, "My closest friends and family say they haven't seen me this free-spirited and happy in years. And it's true. It's definitely true."
The pair got their happily ever after and currently live together in Switzerland, which is the place they first met. So did Robert and Marie-Anne, who remain married to this day.
Shania has opened up about letting go of any grievances from her first marriage, speaking to Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast, she said.
“Do I hate my ex-husband for making a mistake? No. It’s his mistake. Not my mistake.”
“Forgiveness is in the family of letting go… But forgiveness, more specifically 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.”
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