Just who is the new man in Céline Dion’s life?
Is the Quebec singer ready to move on after René’s death? Are we ready to let her?
Céline Dion loves an accessory, but does that extend to a stylish hunk of arm candy? A suggestive new set of photos of Queen Dion in Paris armin-arm with her Spanish backup dancer Pepe Munoz has French tabloids declaring him her new “chouchou” (rough translation: sweet piece of ham hock).
The shots show Dion, 49, with her hand around Munoz’s arm outside the Ritz Hotel in Paris, where she has been spending her summer as she plays a handful of European shows. Munoz, 32, was brought in as recently as last month to dance with Dion on the European tour after he was recommended by the wife of her butler (!), a dancer in Vegas who knew Munoz from his role in Zumanity, the most sexually charged show in the Cirque du Soleil portfolio.
In a recent profile for Vogue.com on his popular side-hustle as an Instagram fashion illustrator (@pepemunozillustrations has 56,400 followers), Munoz said he received a call from Dion’s personal assistant. By July 3, he was accompanying her to such swish events as the Giambattista Valli Couture show in Paris, where both were reportedly “voguing” through the show.
Does this mean that Dion is going the way of such diva contemporaries as Madonna, Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey, and letting her dance troupe double as her own personal harem?
Let us consider the (admittedly scant) evidence: 1. They admire each other’s work Munoz told Vogue that he’s “always loved her music.” For Dion’s part, when she first saw his fashion illustrations, she was so impressed “she started crying.” He told Vogue that his favourite illustration that he has ever done is of Dion in “the Rodarte lace dress with the floral embroidery when she’s holding a banana.” 2. They work very closely together Dion seems to be giving Munoz more to do in her show. In Marseille, they performed a seductive, handsy dance to Dion’s chanson “Le Ballet.” Is this proof that where there’s smoulder there’s fire, or does she just feel safer getting sexy on stage with a man who will vogue with her at fashion shows? 3. They are inseparable According to French magazine Ma- dame Figaro, fans frequently report seeing Munoz in Dion’s company. They were photographed lunching together (with another guy) at the Museum of Decorative Arts’ restaurant LouLou on July 7, where we can only presume Dion frequently burst into excerpts from “Be Our Guest.” 4. 2017 is the year of Céline As they say in Dion-ese, a new day has come. Since her heroic show of grace and grief at René Angélil’s January 2016 national funeral in Montreal, she’s stridently turned a new page, mixing and mingling at events such as the Grammys, Billboard Music Awards and the Met Gala while dressed head-to-toe in the most dazzling designer looks.
“My energy feels younger, more dynamic, excited,” Dion told @voguemagazine in a feature exclusively published on Instagram. “Everything now feels like it is a first.”
Does that sound like a woman in love with a man-baby? Sure it does! Then again, maybe not. After all . . . 5. René Not only was Dion famously involved with her late husband René Angélil from the age of 19, she wrote in her 2000 memoir My Story, My Dream that she told him he would be “the first and the only.” While no one is holding her to that, do we really believe that Munoz has what it takes to be the “second and counting”?
Not to mention, as a mother so devoted she commemorated her oldest son René-Charles’ birth by recording a concept album about the joy of babies that came with a book of baby photos shot by Anne Geddes, it stands to reason that she would be a little more discreet about how she unveiled her first relationship following the death of the father of her three children.
But what if the kids are fine with it? What if it’s us who can’t let go of Céline and René’s love story? And so what if the pan flute solo from “My Heart Will Go On” is stuck in our head again?
It’s a good song!