How Shania Twain, Frédéric Thiébaud Turned Betrayal Into a Love Story

Shania Twain looks breathtaking at her SiriusXM showAin’t nothin’ better, Shania Twain and Frédéric Thiébaud beat the odds together.You know, falling in love after their exes' alleged affair and the media storm that followed. But even with all the noise, the singer and the Swiss businessman are glad they didn’t listen—because look at what they would be missin'. "This is the love I’m going to grow old with," Shania, 60, recently told People, "and it’s a beautiful feeling." And after all this time—15 years of marriage, to be exact—he’s still the one she loves. "I’m sure we’ll always have romance, but there’s a depth and a gratitude that I have about having this love," Shania continued. "And if I [had] met Fred as a teenager, I do believe that he would have been my lifelong love even from then. It just takes sometimes years to find that person." For the couple, that journey began in the ‘90s, when her first husband and longtime music collaborator Robert John “Mutt” Lange hired Frédéric’s first wife Marie-Anne Thiébaud to serve as his secretary and interpreter as he and Shania built their château and new life in Switzerland. The two women developed a friendship as did the men. Together, they all embarked on parenthood with Shania and Mutt welcoming son Eja in August 2001 while Marie-Anne and Frédéric’s daughter Johanna was born that same year.But those marriages didn’t last forever and for always. In March 2008, not long after Shania confided in Marie-Anne that she felt herself drifting apart from her husband of 14 years, the "Come on Over" artist learned a secret that shook her world. "My husband was having an affair with Marie-Anne," she wrote in her 2011 memoir From This Moment On. "Marie-Anne my confidante, the same friend who’d comforted me over the phone only weeks before, expressing how absurd it was of me to have any such suspicions of my husband. The idea that she was the mistress, after all the confiding I’d done in her, had not even entered my mind." In fact, Shania said Frédéric was the one who told her weeks after he learned of the alleged affair himself. "I thanked Fred for coming clean," she continued, "and sparing me further humiliation by turning on the light."Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for ZFFFor his part, Mutt denied the affair allegations, telling People in May 2008 that his split from Shania was "just a growing apart, that’s all." Echoing his denial, Marie-Anne later added to the outlet, "You cannot believe everything you read in the press." But while Mutt and Marie-Anne did begin dating, Shania had no plans of striking up a romance with Frédéric. "Although I had known Frederic for about nine years, I had never really known him," the Grammy winner wrote in her memoir. "I mean, he was my close friend’s husband. I thought he was a wonderful, considerate person, and anyone could see that he was an attentive husband and father, but we were friends by association only." However, they grew closer as they leaned on one another. "It stands to reason that we supported each other during this time of our mutual betrayal, staying in touch, mostly by phone and email every couple of days, as I’d left for Canada at this point," the Ontario-born musician added. "After all, who else could understand better what the other was going through?" It wasn’t until December 2009—about three months after Shania returned to Switzerland—that she and Frédéric shared their first kiss, their kids egging them on after watching them dance beside a campfire. “We were happy,” she wrote. “Relief came rushing through us, as the ice had been broken. Fred and I were surprised and relieved by our children’s encouragement to be ourselves in love, and from that moment on, the four of us began to form a reassembled family, building a nest, a new foundation, reconstructing our lives as a unit after the fall of the ones we’d lost.”Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty ImagesStill, Shania had her reservations. "Fred and I proceeded with caution, because we were both keenly aware that our mutual grief might be the main thing binding us together," she added. "We also considered the dangers of confusing the children with a rebound romance. But it wasn’t."From this moment on, Shania and Frédéric started a new beginning—finalizing their divorces and then tying the knot on New Year's Day in 2011. "I am in love for the first time in my life," he said in the 2011 OWN docuseries Why Not? With Shania Twain. "I know it because my heart feels different. Because when she enters a room, everything stops. My heart stops. I’m totally numb. It’s a beautiful thing. She did fall in love with me, and I’m just the happiest man on the planet."And his care did impress Shania much. "I don’t feel like I’ve ever been loved this way before, no, no way," the country music star added. "I have never been considered this way ever in my life before. I’ve never been supported this way in my life before. I have never been charmed this way in my life before. I’ve never been romanced this way in my life before. In all senses, I have never felt this way before."So though their love story wasn’t what she expected, man, she feels lucky they found each other. It’s "twisted," Shania told AARP The Magazine in 2020, "but so beautifully twisted.” And as their relationship continues to go up, up up, she’s not letting their past bring her down. "Do I hate my ex-husband for making a mistake? No," she said on Great Company With Jamie Laing in 2024. "It’s his mistake, not my mistake. So sad for him that he made such a great mistake that he has to live with. I don’t know what that is, but it’s not my weight." To learn about more alleged cheating scandals that made headlines, read on.Christopher Polk/Getty ImagesKristen Stewart & Robert PattinsonMonths after photos caught Stewart in the act with her Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders, the Twilight co-stars called it quits in 2013. Since then, both actors have sunk their teeth into other relationships. Pattinson and singer FKA Twigs dated for three years until 2017 and a year later, he began seeing Suki Waterhouse. The couple welcomed a baby girl in 2024. Meanwhile, Stewart went on to date several women—including Alicia Cargile, St. Vincent and Stella Maxwell—before marrying Dylan Meyer in 2025. 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Meanwhile, Garner has been dating businessman John Miller on-and-off since 2018.Rodin Eckenroth/Getty ImagesGleb Savchenko & Elena SamodanovaShortly after announcing their split in November 2020, Samodanova accused her then-estranged husband Savchenko of cheating on her. Fans have speculated that Savchenko and his Dancing With the Stars partner Chrishell Stause were more than just friends, an allegation that both the dancer and the Selling Sunset star denied. At the time, Savchenko responded to his wife's claims with a statement, saying, "My relationship with Chrishell was and remains strictly platonic. Our friendship during our season on DWTS was not the reason for our split. Elena and I have had longstanding issues in our marriage. This has been an ongoing situation between Elena and I paired with poor timing." 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The couple stayed together and went on to welcome a son, who joined big sisters Dusty Rose and Gio Grace.Jeffrey Mayer/Getty ImagesJesse James & Sandra BullockTo the shock of many who witnessed her 2009 Academy Award speech dedicated to the West Coast Choppers founder, Bullock filed for divorce months later after James allegedly participated in an 11-month affair with a tattoo model. At the time, James and Bullock were simultaneously in the process of adopting a child, a boy named Louis. Since then, the Miss Congeniality star adopted a daughter she named Laila and began a romance with photographer Bryan Randall. He died in 2023 at age 57 after battling ALS. James married Bonnie Rotten in 2022 and the two welcomed a son the following year. Rotten filed for divorce in 2024, but later requested to have her petition be dismissed.Taylor Hill/Getty ImagesNick Young & Iggy AzaleaEven after the couple decided to tough things out amid allegations that the NBA star cheated on the rapper, Azalea eventually called off their engagement in 2016 and admitted to catching Young on security camera footage with other women. Since then, Young moved on, welcoming four kids with fiancée Keonna Green. As for Azalea? She, too, became a parent. The "Fancy" hitmaker gave birth to son Onyx with Playboi Carti in 2020.Lester Cohen/WireImageJude Law & Sienna MillerIn 2005, Law publicly apologized to Miller after news broke that he had cheated on her with his children's caretaker. The pair split the following year, but rekindled their romance in 2009 only to separate again in 2011. The actor has since gone on to father more children (he has seven total) with different women. Miller got engaged to Tom Sturridge and welcomed daughter Marlowe with him in 2012. However, the couple split 2015. The actress went on to welcome two kids with Oli Green in 2024.GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty ImagesMaria Shriver & Arnold SchwarzeneggerIn 2011, fans of the longtime couple were shocked to hear that the actor-turned-California governor confessed to fathering a son, Joseph Baena, with the family housekeeper while still married to Shriver. The journalist filed for divorce months after the scandal broke, and a judge signed off on the final judgement of their separation in 2021. Despite their split, Schwarzenegger and Shriver have maintained friendly relations and their son Patrick Schwarzenegger even formed a friendship with Joseph.Allen Berezovsky/WireImageIme Udoka & Nia LongSeven years into his engagement with the actress, Udoka was suspended from his role as head coach of the Boston Celtics for the 2022-2023 season after ESPN, citing multiple sources, reported that he had an "intimate relationship with a female member of the franchise's staff." In response, Udoka took responsibility for his actions and said in a statement, "I want to apologize to our players, fans, the entire Celtics organization, and my family for letting them down. I am sorry for putting the team in this difficult situation, and I accept the team's decision." The pair split in December 2022. Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesHank Baskett & Kendra WilkinsonThe former Playboy playmate has said her husband's "naïve and gullible" nature led to an alleged cheating scandal in 2014. Though the pair initially tried to move on from it, Wilkinson—who shares son Hank and daughter Alijah with Baskett—filed for divorce in 2018. Their separation was legally finalized a year later.David Cannon/Getty ImagesElin Nordegren & Tiger WoodsFollowing years as the golf world's biggest star, Woods' personal life came to a screeching halt in 2009 when he confessed to cheating on his wife and mother of his two children with multiple women. He later sought treatment for sex addiction, his marriage to the Swedish model dissolved. Woods went on to date pro skier Lindsey Vonn for three years before their split in 2015. He was linked to Erica Herman before striking up a relationship with Vanessa Trump. As for Nordegren, she began dating NFL alum Jordan Cameron in 2017. JB Lacroix/WireImageFergie & Josh DuhamelOnly nine months into their marriage, the actor faced allegations he had cheated on the Black Eyed Peas singer. Duhamel called the reported one-night stands "absolutely ridiculous" and Fergie admitted to Oprah Winfrey in a 2013 interview that the setback only made their relationship stronger. The Hollywood couple, parents to son Axl, ultimately split in 2017 after 8 years of marriage. Duhamel went on to date actress Eiza González before tying the knot with Audra Mari in 2022. The Safe Haven star and the former Miss World America welcomed son Shepherd two years later followed by daughter Rocca in 2026.John Shearer/Getty ImagesBrandi Glanville & Eddie CibrianThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star split from her husband of nine years and the father of their two children in 2009, after he had an affair with singer Leann Rimes on the set of the Lifetime movie Northern Lights. Though Glanville spent years feuding with her ex and his now-wife, the drama between them has since seemingly subsided. As Glanville explained in 2021, "I think we both grew up a lot because obviously, it was a decade of fighting."Getty ImagesNed Fulmer & Ariel FulmerNed, an original member of The Try Guys, parted ways from the popular YouTube comedy group in September 2022 amid rumors that he had cheated on his wife Ariel with someone from his workplace. In a statement released shortly after his departure, the content creator admitted to having a "consensual workplace relationship" and issued an apology "for any pain that my action may have caused to the guys and the fans but most of all to Ariel." Ariel, who shares two young sons with Ned, shared in a statement of her own, "Nothing is more important to me and Ned than our family and all we request right now is that you respect our privacy for the sake of our kids." The couple confirmed in 2025 that they had parted ways.Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Chevrolet VoltTori Spelling & Dean McDermottFans of True Tori know the couple's roller coaster romance was brought to a head when her husband cheated on her in 2013 while working in Canada. Though the couple, who share five children together, initially moved past the scandal, they split in 2023.RJ Capak/WireImageChristie Brinkley & Peter CookAmid divorce proceedings and a custody battle over their children, Cook admitted to having an affair with his 18-year-old assistant. His divorce with Brinkley was finalized in 2008 after a contentious two-year legal battle. Brinkley went on to date John Mellencamp, but split with the singer in 2016 after a year together. As for Cook, he found himself in another cheating scandal in 2014 when his second wife, Suzanne Shaw, accused him of being a serial cheater and issued an apology to Brinkley for not heeding her advice. Cook and Shaw divorced, and the architect married Alba Jancou in 2023.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesBill Clinton & Hillary ClintonA year-long "improper physical relationship" between the former U.S. President and White House intern Monica Lewinsky nearly cost him his presidency. Hillary remained by her husband's side throughout the media firestorm that ensued and ran for U.S. President herself in 2016.Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty ImagesDavid Letterman & Regina LaskoIn 2009, the Late Show host revealed someone was threatening to blackmail him with information that would've revealed his many extramarital relations with female employees on his show. Letterman confirmed the allegations, and issued an apology to his longtime partner and staff. Letterman and Lasko have remained together, and have one son. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for DuJourRamona Singer & Mario SingerAfter 20 years of marriage, the Real Housewives of New York City alum said goodbye when she caught her husband cheating on her. The reality TV star then turned lemons into pinot grigio, launching her own line of wine and getting involved with AOA Restaurant in the Big Apple.For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App