Shania Twain originally met Robert John Lange in June 1993, and the two grew extremely close very quickly. Just months later, on December 28, 1993, the couple got married and started a life together. They had a son named Eja on August 12, 2001, and the couple remained married for the next seven years.
In May 2008, their marriage came crashing to a halt when Twain found out her then-husband was cheating on her with her best friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud – she was also the couple’s secretary and managed their Switzerland chateau. Twain didn’t hesitate to file for divorce, and it was finalized in 2010.
Twain also didn’t hesitate to find a new man. Just a few months after the divorce was finalized, she announced her engagement to Frederic Thiébaud – an executive for Nestlé and the former husband of Marie-Anne. The couple decided to get married weeks later and have been happily married ever since.
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On February 27, Shania Twain sat down with Dax Shepard for a more-than-two-hour conversation on his Armchair Expert podcast. While she doesn’t talk about her previous marriage often, she provided several soundbites about her emotions at that time and how she feels about it now – nearly 15 years later.
“I was uncontrollably fragile over it, which I had never felt before ever because I thought for once I was stable. I really believe that I’m safe, so that really devastated me, I think, more than any other instability I’ve ever felt,” she said in the interview – adding she found comfort in talking to Frederic about the divorce.
While Twain and Frederic didn’t talk much while married to the former partners – except when they would do a double date – they eventually started to connect when their respective marriages began spiraling downward. In her recent interview, she called Frederic ‘one of the smartest’ people she has ever met.
“I think everyone gets what they deserve. I got what I deserve. I got the greatest man on the planet,” Twain said to Shepard last week. And while Frederic and Shania have been happily married for roughly 12 years, their former partners – Robert and Marie-Anne – have been happily married for 15 years.
Shania Twain Talks Co-Parenting With Robert John Lange
Shania Twain admitted she doesn’t have any interest in speaking to or interacting with her former husband, Robert John Lange, unless it’s about their son – who is now 21 years old. While they talk occasionally in an effort to co-parent, she admits it’s only through text messages – not face-to-face.
“Mutt and I parent well together — for people who don’t talk to each other. We’ll just text. We both love our son so much, so we don’t play any games like that. We have the same priority, we share spaces for him. No nonsense there,” she said of co-parenting her son with Mutt – a nickname Robert often goes by.
Now, Shania Twain is happier than ever and is with someone she feels would never treat her the way Robert did – especially considering Frederic went through the same heartbreak with his former partner. She talked about how ‘beautiful’ it was to see how ‘gracefully and graciously’ Fred navigated that pain.
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Neither of the two saw the affair coming and had no idea until Fred found phone bills, hotel information, and other receipts from when Robert and Marie-Anne would get together. In fact, it was Frederic who eventually told Shania about the affair – despite Marie-Anne previously denying Shania’s speculation.
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