It's been a decade since Shakira and Gerard Piqué walked into each other's lives. The couple met thanks to the 2010 World Cup and have been inseparable ever since. Now 10 years into a loving relationship with two gorgeous sons, the pair have done their best to keep their lives together private, but they have also said a lot of sweet things about each other in the course of their time together.
More from MamásLatinas: Longtime celebrity couples who are in no rush to get married
They might be reserved about their personal business, but they are not afraid to gush about each other during interviews or with their Instagram captions. The couple is often asked about their children, Milan and Sasha, and they make it a point to brag about each other's parenting skills. Shakira commends her man for being an excellent father, and he says the same about her as a mother. So sweet!
They are also quick to defend their relationship choices and make sure the world knows that just because they are not married doesn't mean that they aren't fully committed to their relationship and lives together. Scroll through to see all the sweet things Gerard and Shakira have said about each other.
Shakira credited Gerard for restoring her faith in God.
"I think, if you can prove the existence of God, it can only be proven through love. I even had lost my faith for a while. I was becoming as agnostic," she told Elle in 2013. "And it was really hard, because I was always very religious, and for a few years, maybe because–it sounds so corny–I was not feeling the love like it was supposed to be, I started to think that there was no God. And suddenly I meet Gerard and the sun comes out."
She might be a fan of soccer now, but that wasn't always the case.
Shakira shared that when she first saw her beau, she didn't really know who he was because she wasn't a fan of soccer prior to their relationship. They met after he starred in her music video for "Waka Waka" in 2010. “I wasn’t a soccer fan, so I didn’t know who he was. When I saw the video I said, ‘That one is kind of cute,’ and then someone finally decided to introduce us,” she told 60 Minutes.
She knows he loves her for her and nothing else.
"He has his own world and that's actually one of the healthiest things about the relationship. I know that he's the one person who is with me not because of any interest other than the love that unites us," she told Elle in 2013. "There's nothing I can offer him beyond my womanhood."
He also bragged about Shakira as a mother.
“She is the best mom in the world, next to mine. Milan could not have a better mom. She is very dedicated, the love and the connection between them is amazing,” Gerard told HuffPost Voces in 2013. “I learn a lot by her side. Shakira has a very great career, knows a lot and has taught me a lot. She came into my life to transform it and that makes me very happy. She and Milan are my everything.”
Shakira revealed why they haven't tied the knot.
“To tell you the truth marriage scares the sh–t out of me. I don't want him to see me as the wife,” she said in an interview in January 2020 with 60 Minutes. “I want him to see me as the lover, the girlfriend. I want to keep him on his toes. I want him to think that anything’s possible depending on behavior.”
Shakira has made it clear that they are not your average family.
“We have never been a traditional couple,” she told Viva magazine in 2019. “We don’t have a written deal to share the tasks or anything like that, but we both are very involved in parenting and try to sort it out the best we can, we support each other, and we also find a huge help in our families. We don’t know a different way to do it!”
Shakira sees no need in getting married.
"When you feel complete you don't need to get married, and you don't think about it. Whatever, he is mine now," she told Primer Impacto in 2014.
Shakira said Gerard is her inspiration.
"I've written many love songs for Gerard. But it's never enough," she told the Sun in 2014. "I feel that he deserves a million love songs written for him."
Shakira praised him as a partner and father.
‘[Gerard]’s got his feet on the ground and is very practical about problem-solving. When I get stressed about how to organize things or juggle it all, he helps put it all in perspective," she told Viva. "And he is my biggest support. We’re both very hands-on parents, so it never feels like one is carrying the entire load on their own. He probably lets them have a little more chocolate than I’d like, though."
Shak might be set on the "no marriage" thing, but he said otherwise.
While she might be terrified of tying the knot, Gerard seems a bit more hopeful. When asked if there were any wedding plans for them on the horizon in 2017, the soccer star answered, "Surely in the future we'll get married."
She let the world know what she thinks of her man in the cutest way.
The couple went hunting for truffles in 2018, and after a successful attempt, Shak shared this cute selfie with an even better caption. She wrote: "I always wanted to find two things: A good man and a white truffle!!"
She knows he's the one.
"We already have what's essential, you know? We have a union, a love for each other, and a baby. I think that those aspects of our relationship are already established, and marriage is not going to change them," she told Glamour in 2014. "But if I'm ever going to get married, he's the one."
Some of the cutest things she has said about him are found in her songs.
"My life began to change the night that I met you," she sang in her 2017 hit "Me Enamoré."
Gerard revealed that they flirted just like the rest of us.
"I met Shakira in Madrid, when we were preparing for the 2010 World Cup, and after appearing in the 'Waka Waka' video," he told TV3 in 2016 "It all started when we were together in South Africa and I wrote to her. She was already there because she sang in the opening ceremony and I asked her what the weather was like. It is the typical stupid question, and the normal answer is to tell me to bring a jacket but she started telling me what the weather was like in every single moment and it got to the point where I told her we would have to get to the World Cup final to see her again–she was singing at the final." Spain ended up winning the World Cup in 2010, and the rest is history. Sometimes small talk can get you far.
They celebrate each other's biggest moments.
"My love, a stage in your life that we will always hold in our hearts has ended," she captioned this post when he retired from the Spain national team in 2018. "One of the happiest moments of my life has been seeing you win in 2010 with the team and celebrate with the Spain champions."
They confirmed their relationship in the cutest way.
Shakira took to Twitter in March 2011 with a glowing photo of them together to confirm that they were a couple. She tweeted, "Let me introduce you to my sun." So cute!
Shak loves to brag about how good of a father he is.
"Thank God the father is very involved. He has been amazing," she told Us Weekly in 2013. "The baby spends as much time with me as he does with his dad. He's the kind of dad who's full hands on. He changes diapers, he bathes him, he enjoys playing with the baby, he enjoys feeding him, all of that stuff. So that's great help for me, you know. I can't imagine doing all of this and not having the father do his part of the job. So that's a huge help to me."
She thinks he is a good example for his boys.
"Growing up with a working mom is a start. I also think their dad is a good example of a modern man to emulate," she told Parents magazine in 2015. "Gerard and I pretty much share all parenting responsibilities, although I'm definitely the disciplinarian."
They know that their love is the foundation for their family.
"We try to do the best we can. There's a lot of love, that's the foundation of any family. You have to take care of it and dedicate time," she told Hello! in 2017. "Family is the most important thing for me. The rest is secondary."
She spoke about the first time their eyes met.
When talking to ET Canada about her song "Me Enamoré," she said she wanted to honor that moment when their paths crossed. "He looks at me with those eyes, like awww…really appreciating the fact that I, almost, paid an homage to that moment in our lives when we met each other–that turning point in our lives where everything changed," she said.
