Shakira is now speaking up about her breakup with her ex-boyfriend Gerard Piqué. Through ET, the singing sensation spoke candidly about her separation from Elle Magazine. Shakira and Gerard were together for a whopping twelve years and even had two children together, Milan, age nine, and Sasha, age seven, but they never wed. Many people were stunned by their joint announcement of their separation in June. After spending years with her lover, Shakira admitted during the interview that saying goodbye to Gerard was "the saddest hour in my life" and "very tough." The singer from Columbia's situation got worse after the highly public split. She revealed, "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." She added, "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?" As a result of all the scandalous stories highlighting the hazardous position, Shakira also blamed the tabloids for transforming her relationship with Gerard, which had previously been "holy," into "something vulgarised and cheapened." Shakira decided to forward claims that Gerard had an extramarital affair even though she was clear that she didn't want to comment on their new relationship. Her two children and their effective co-parenting seem to be her sole concern at the moment. Shakira said, "Regardless of how things ended or how Gerard and I feel about each other as ex-partners, he is the father of my children." Olivia Wilde on Harry Styles and Chris Pine's 'spit' incident Who are the Most Handsome Men in the World? Brad Pitt answers! The Kardashians: Khloe about the birth of her and Tristan Thompson's son