Shakira addresses 'incredibly difficult' breakup with Gerard Pique

Shakira has broken her silence on her recent split with her former partner Gerard Pique.

Speaking to Elle, the Hips Don’t Lie singer revealed the split from her beau of twelve years is “really hard to talk about.”

“This is really hard to talk about personally, especially as this is the first time I’ve ever addressed this situation in an interview,” she said.

She continued: “I’ve remained quiet and just tried to process it all. … It’s hard to talk about it, especially because I’m still going through it, and because I’m in the public eye and because our separation is not like a regular separation.”

The songstress and the athlete announced their separation in a joint statement in June.

Shakira noted that her main goal is to protect her kids whom she shares with Pique - Milan, 9, and Sasha, 7–from all the negativity surrounding the split.

“It’s been tough not only for me, but also for my kids,” she told the outlet. “Incredibly difficult. … I’ve tried to conceal the situation in front of my kids. I try to do it and to protect them, because that’s my number one mission in life.”

“But then they hear things in school from their friends or they come across some disagreeable, unpleasant news online, and it just affects them, you know?” she added.

The Colombia native didn’t address the reason for her and Piqué’s split, but she called the past few months “the darkest hour of my life.”