Shakira has confirmed her split with her footballer partner Gerard Piqué after more than a decade together.
The Columbian singer, 45, has two children with Piqué, 35, who has played for FC since 2008 and made over 600 appearances for the club.
In a joint statement released via her publicist, the pair said: ‘We regret to confirm that we are parting ways.
‘For the well-being of our children, who are our highest priority, we ask that you respect their privacy. Thank you for your understanding.’
The pair met back in 2010 while she filmed the video for her World Cup song Waka Waka for the competition in South Africa.
While they never married, they were together for 11 years and share children Milan, nine, and Sasha, seven.
Talking about how their relationship began, Piqué said at the time: ‘It all started when we were in South Africa and I wrote to her.’
He was recently quizzed by Gary Neville on why he’d never tied the knot with the Hips Don’t Lie singer.
During an appearance on The Overlap podcast, he said: ‘No, I’m not married. It’s her mentality.
‘I like it how we are right now. We have two kids, nine and seven right now. We work good as a couple.’
It comes just hours after Shakira spoke out after worried fans spotted she had been seen in an ambulance recently.
Alongside a picture with her father, William Mebarak Chadid, she wrote on Twitter: ‘Guys, I’m getting a lot of messages of concern that I was seen in an ambulance in Barcelona recently.
‘I just wanted to let you know that those photos are from last weekend, when my dad unfortunately had a bad fall and I accompanied him in an ambulance, where he is recovering now.
She went on to thank fans for their supportive messages, concluding: ‘Please do send all your best wishes his way and thank you, as always, all of you for the love and support.’
