Pop superstar Enrique Iglesias sat down with Nancy O’Dell on the set of his new music video, where the Latin heartthrob talked about his new album (due June 12), his body image, and shared rarely-discussed details about his romantic relationship with tennis star Anna Kournikova.
With a string of albums released nearly every year in the late 90’s, and three in a row between 2001 & 2003, fans have wondered why Iglesias seemed to stop making music for the last few years. The truth is that he has been making music — he’s just been taking his time to make sure it’s right.
“I’ve been busy making this album for the last three years,” he tells Nancy. “It’s been a tough album, it’s been a long long time. When I did my first album, I had three years to make that album, so I needed time to write this album, to get inspired. As the album kept on going, every six months the album would take on a different direction. So, when I thought I was done, I wasn’t.”
Iglesias explains that the new album is a bit of a departure for him, with rock and hip-hop influences (including a collaboration with Lil’ Wayne), and the change in styles also contributed to the delay.
“I stepped a little bit out of my comfort zone, and I tried new things,” he says. “I’m not going to tell you it’s my best album, but (its) definitely the one that’s taken me the longest; the toughest album I’ve ever made, of my career. And hopefully that will pay off.”
One thing that hasn’t changed is his relationship with model and tennis player Anna Kournikova, despite whats been “reported” in the tabloids.
“I think it’s funny,” he remarks. [According to the tabloids] “(Anna and I) got married like three years ago and we got divorced about a year ago. Everything is good in my life. Everything is pretty good, but I’m not married.”
While he admits that he’s not ready for marriage, Iglesias says that he an Anna are still together, and they do what they can to see each other amidst both of their hectic schedules. But do they play tennis together?
“I’m bad at tennis. I’m really bad at tennis,” he confesses, but that hasn’t stopped him from picking up the racket from time to time. “We play, believe it or not, [but] we’ve actually only played like once or twice.”
Despite his sex-symbol status, Iglesias says that he doesn’t exercise as much as he should, and even confesses to having body image issues. “I got skinny legs,” he says. “There’s three things I wanted to be when I was little: a pilot, a soccer player, and a singer. Obviously, I mean pilot — it’s too late? singer — thank God I made that, but soccer player — I still dream about being a soccer player, and I got chicken legs.”
He provides a visual aide to emphasize his point:
“Once in a while I’ll wear a G-string, you know when I’m in — I live in Miami Beach, South Beach. I look like Borat, and it’s pretty bad.”
Iglesias is scheduled to sing on tonight’s episode of “Dancing With The Stars,” and stresses that singing is all he plans to do:
“I’m not gonna dance — I don’t think I can wear those tight pants and those tight shirts. I don’t think I could do that. Just the singing, thank God!”
While he has no problem making cracks about himself, Enrique is puzzled by the media’s focus on Anna’s body.
“One day she’s skinny, the next day she’s pregnant [according to the tabloids],” he remarks. “So I guess, in Hollywood, it’s a big thing about women and girls and their weight, you know. I mean, she’s perfectly healthy, you know. She’s very athletic, she exercises a lot, maybe sometimes she’s a little too skinny, um, I don’t know, but I mean to me she’s always looked perfect.”
He adds, jokingly, “Now she’ll kick my ass.”
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