Céline Dionand her backup dancer Pepe Munoz have been inseparable over the last two years. But the singer, 50, very much insists the two are just friends, though she doesn’t mind if anyone thinks otherwise.
Dion went on to praise Angélil, whom she first met when she was just 12 years old and who helped managed her career throughout his life. She described him as “the greatest man in the world,” and said she takes comfort in “knowing that now he’s in peace and is resting and is always within me.”
“I see him every day through the eyes of my children,” she said of their kids, twinsEddy and Nelson, 8, and sonRené-Charles, 17. “He gave me so much strength.”
“To be honest with you, I think I’m at the best of my life right now and I really want to enjoy and embrace every moment of it and really enjoy it,” Dion told Wootton. “It’s like I’m having a second wind, like I’m having the wind beneath my wings, kind of like I’m spreading. I’m having a good time.”
Céline Dion and Pepe Munoz.Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty
As for Munoz, who was in the room for Wootton’s interview, Dion admitted she’s concerned the attention is “difficult” for him.
“It was probably overwhelming for him at the beginning when we started working together because we were dancing together,” she told Wootton. “We bonded right away as friends, we had a good time. It evolved. But when people started to take pictures and it was like, ‘Who’s that guy? René?’ … Let’s not mix everything.”
Dion praised Munoz for helping to style her and keep her in the best shape. “We’re friends, we’re best friends,” she explained. “Of course we hug and hold hands and go out, so people see that. I mean, he’s a gentleman. He’s giving me his hand to go out.”
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Earlier this month, Dion paid tribute to Angélil on the third anniversary of hisdeath.
“Mon cher René… tu es toujours avec moi… et tu le seras toujours. À ta douce mémoire… xx…” Dion wrote in her native French on her social media accounts, which translates in English to, “My dearest René….always with me…..always will be. In loving memory… xx …”
“This is the greatest gift that I can offer him for his birthday, because what he loved the most in the world is the fans, the music and to see me perform for you,” she said.
After leading the crowd in a rehearsal of the chorus, the singing legend shouted, “Are you ready to sing that for René?” Once the crowd finished the song and applauded Dion, she looked up to the sky and blew a kiss. “Happy birthday, my love,” she said.
Dion then turned back to the crowd of more than 4,000 gathered in The Colosseum, telling them, “I couldn’t have offered him a better gift.”
source: people.com
