Céline Dion Finally Set The Record Straight About Rumors Surrounding Her Male Best Friend

At first, Dion and Muñoz bonded over their shared love of fashion. But as paparazzi photos of the singer and her good-looking pal raised eyebrows, the connection between them grew deeper. It seems he's brought some laughter back into her life. And Dion even said she admires and loves Muñoz.

In the year after Angélil's passing, the gossip mill swung into full gear. Some even went as far as labeling Muñoz a “boy toy.” But up until that point, the nature of their relationship wasn't exactly clear. See, the Spanish illustrator, 36, and Dion, 53, were the topic of much speculation — though she'd faced far worse in her iconic career.

Dion has come a long way from her beginning as the youngest of 14 kids in Québec, Canada, where she had a drawer for her bed. But even as a child, Dion showed enormous talent as a singer. She was also a budding songwriter, penning her first song at the age of 12. After that, her star only continued to rise.

And it was that song that provided the breakthrough Dion needed. Her mom sent a copy to the man who would become her manager, and later, her husband — René Angélil. He liked what he heard enough to give the youngster an audition. It’s fair to say she blew him away, and he would guide her career for the next few decades.

With René by her side, Dion took the industry by storm. She swept the Eurovision competition and followed up with a smash hit album. Then, with the world at attention, Céline scored two Oscar-winning songs, the first, from Beauty and the Beast, the second, Titanic’s “My Heart Will Go On.” She rounded her impeccable career out with a coveted Las Vegas residency, but then her dreams suddenly shattered.

But in 2016 at the height of the diva’s powers, she was robbed of her companion. Husband René passed away from cancer. The story of Dion and her manager is truly one for the ages. She was devoted to him from the moment they met, so much so that he remains, so she says, the only man she has ever kissed.

The pair had gotten hitched in 1994 during a spectacular ceremony at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. Canada’s viewing public joined in the celebration through their TVs. The couple demonstrated that an age gap is not a barrier to great love, with Angélil being double Dion’s 26 years.

Their union was blessed with three boys. Dion attempted to achieve her longstanding ambition to have a child in 2001 with fertility treatment. René-Charles was the result. Then in 2010 she underwent in vitro fertilization successfully, with a twin bounty, Eddy and Nelson. But their happy family was rocked by Angélil’s demise a few years later.

It would have been understandable if Dion had given up on performing. Because Angélil had been the guiding light of her career. But that hadn’t been what her husband had wanted for her, urging her to continue to tread the boards. In 2019 that led her to go on a tour of the world with a show she called Courage.

When Dion was asked by U.K. tabloid The Sun in 2017 how she was coping with widowhood, she said, “I think I will probably grieve for the rest of my life.” And she confirmed that it was far too early to think about dating. She added, “I am definitely (still) in love with him, married to him.”

So Dion’s love for her late husband had not diminished one iota. “He’s the love of my life. It’s very difficult for me to see myself with another person,” she said. “The love that I have for him, I live it every day. And as a woman, we do have emotions and feelings that come and go. And it’s always with him.”

It was tough on Dion to be widowed with her twins still very young, but she found comfort with them. She told The Sun, “I organize myself to not feel lonely. So I got myself a huge, huge, huge bed, and I sleep with my twins. They are comforting me a lot. I need them. I need them close.”

The superstar added, “We kiss him (Angélil) every night. We have a little ritual where we say good night to him with a little picture.” This was not the only ritual that the family had adopted, she explained, “Then the kids talk to him. And they write words, put them in balloons, and we send the balloons to the sky.”

In 2019 Dion explained to Extra TV that she had called her tour Courage because she had demonstrated the virtue by going back to performing. She said, “It was a challenge to go back onstage. I didn’t know if I was going to have the strength and the courage to sing again because René always sang with me. René was my second half.”

And it was not surprising that Dion was facing up to loneliness as she took on life as a single mom. She said, “Raising the three boys, I was afraid that they were going to ask me about ‘where’s dad?’ every day. I was afraid a little bit to not be cuddled at night. I was afraid to not have a partner to make me laugh…”

But the diva did have some laughter in her life. It was being provided, at least in part, by Muñoz. The two of them were often seen enjoying each other’s company. And inevitably perhaps, the rumor mill started up, with the talk being that the two of them were an item.

In 2017 the couple were seen out and about in the capital of romance, Paris. They enjoyed the fashions of Giambattista Valli, on show in the French city. And Muñoz had seated himself near Dion as he sketched some of the models who showed off Valli’s clothing. This was definitely fuel for the flames of rumor.

The couple may have been drawn together, as it turns out, by a mutual love of fashion. Dion had certainly been noted as an icon of the fashion world, decking herself in creations by the likes of Alexandre Vauthier and Valentino. Perhaps her shift into clothes had something to do with her friendship with Muñoz?

Well, certainly the world of celebrity gossip doesn’t need much of an excuse to get going. Plus Muñoz and Dion didn’t mind being seen together. They were often pictured at fashion shows in the two years after 2017. Indeed, it seemed undeniable that they were something of an item. But there was more to it than that.

Muñoz had become creative director for Dion, and in that role, the talk was, he’d helped ship out some of her image team. In July 2019 a story came out that he’d isolated her from her “inner circle.” A little bird whispered to the Page Six website, “Pepe is like [Dion’s] boy toy who is really trying to take over.”

Among the casualties of Muñoz’s influence was, it was alleged, stylist Law Roach. He was, the source noted, replaced by a new stylist. And the new person, along with a hairdresser and Muñoz, made up the totality of Dion’s new team. But how did he gain this reported power over the celebrity?

Well, the source didn’t have any doubt how, explaining to Page Six, “He’s isolating her, and people are feeling it. She’s in love with this guy and listens to everything he’s saying. People go to him when they have questions. He’s fully taken over.” And this wasn’t the only person who told this story.

Because another person claiming to be in the know told the website that Muñoz’s influence was strong. They said, “People are freaked out by it. He has this clique that he keeps very small. It’s Céline, himself, a hair person and the stylist. That’s the group – even management goes to him when they need something.”

Yet not everyone agreed. Another person claiming to be close to the singer explained to Page Six, “He’s an amazing inspiration for her. He’s inspiring her to take risks. It’s not a bad thing. He’s not managing her. People change their teams. She’s smart and at the helm of her career. She’s calling the shots now.”

With the rumors flying back and forth, the stage was set for Dion to confirm or deny that she had a new lover. And she found an interesting way to have her say. She posted a statement from her actual “inner circle” to clarify the situation about Muñoz once and for all.

Yes, Dion posted to Instagram, “Dear Pepe, as the real members of Céline’s ‘inner circle’, we are saddened and disappointed by an untruthful story that surfaced on Monday, quoting multiple sources who claim they are part of the inner circle and that you have too much influence over Céline. These ‘sources’ have nothing better to do. Don’t let it get you down… and keep up the great work.” 

No doubt that Dion was very fond of Muñoz, but there was nothing romantic going on. And she made one of the reasons clear to Extra TV in April 2019, saying, “At first, I felt for him quite a bit… Pepe is gay, and at first I think some people did not know that.”

Dion explained more of what kind of positive relationship the two had built, saying, “The thing is that he’s my best friend, and we dance together, and he did so much for me and even just holding my hand… it’s something that I haven’t had for a long time… A hug from a 6’ 3” man, it was wonderful.”

The singer added to Extra TV, “And people really thought there was a romance going on.” But the closeness that the two had built was not born of a love affair at all. She went on, “He did so much for me, for my mental health, my spirituality, my strength… my inner strength.”

Muñoz himself explained what working for Dion was like when he spoke to fashion magazine Vogue in 2017, having been hired as a dancer. He said, “She’s the kind of person [for whom] the day has no schedule, no time, no nothing, so whenever she feels the creativity coming, that’s what happens.”

The dancer-cum-illustrator continued, “She makes you feel welcome, like you belong to the family, and like you’re part of the group. She’s absolutely fearless with her style, her dancing, her performing, and as a person in her clothes.” So it’s clear that the admiration that Dion felt for him had been reciprocated from day one.

Plus when Andy Cohen spoke to Dion in November 2019 on his show Watch What Happens Live!, she confirmed that she had not found romance. She said, “I don’t date. I don’t have a boyfriend, and you know, it doesn’t mean that I will not find someone in my life. If I do, that would be great. If I don’t, that would be great.”

And when the singer appeared on the TV program Today in May 2021, nothing had changed. She confirmed that she had “no idea” when the time would be right for dating. For Dion, “Right this second, love is so big right now in my life, with my kids, with life itself, I’m not thinking about a relationship and falling in love again.”

The Canadian superstar continued, “Do I have to say that it will never happen anymore? I don’t know.” But she added, “I see my kids. I look at them – we live with him ((Angélil)). We still live with him. He’s part of our lives every day, so I have to say that I feel very, very strong.”

And while Céline has stayed strong throughout her journey as a single mom, she's also had to combat rampant rumors about her appearance and overall health. Recently, fans commented on her social media posts, saying she looks rather thin. But as rumors about her weight swirled, Dion caved. She explained the real reason for her changed appearance – confirming what some had known all along.

The singer may have been moved to address these rumors because of the particularly harsh nature of the body-shaming comments she received. This included messages such as “Eat something please” and “Lost too much weight, looks like a skeleton.” And whether or not such observations were made out of concern, taken together the remarks practically turned into outright bullying.

Dion has been through a lot in her life, too – including medical problems that have required surgery. Unsurprisingly, then, she wasn’t happy to see people inappropriately talking about her weight and the perceived state of her health. And all of this prompted the star to come clean to her critics in spectacular fashion.

Dion is aware of the importance of looks in show business, after all. The singer started her musical career when still just a teenager – and quickly encountered the pitfalls of her appearance-obsessed industry. This was despite receiving awards for her talent and even winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest with her performance of “Ne partez pas sans moi.” You see, when Dion decided to try and make it as an international star, her manager René Angélil decided that she would have to change her image first.

So, young Dion spent a year and a half transforming herself – including getting her teeth straightened. Magazines in her native Quebec had reportedly been outright cruel about this aspect of her appearance. In fact, the star had even been given the unkind nickname of “Canine Dion.”

Dion therefore had surgery on her mouth as well as a haircut and a change in her style. And since she spoke no English, she had to learn a new language, too. Then, after 18 months, Dion emerged fully prepared to be a superstar. And Dion’s first album in English, 1990’s Unison, received good reviews.

A year later, Dion then joined forces with soul star Peabo Bryson to sing the title song of Disney’s hit movie Beauty and the Beast. That track was a hit that ended up catapulting the Canadian to worldwide fame. Dion’s self-titled album that followed also sold exceptionally well – going double platinum in the U.S. And the singer clearly trusted Angélil’s advice about her looks.

It was at around this time, you see, that Dion became recognized for her fashion as well as her hits – not least because she had begun to wear daring dresses and unusual ensembles to red-carpet events. Her most iconic looks of the 1990s included a sheer black outfit that showed off her underwear at the 1993 Grammys and a white blazer worn backward at the 1999 Oscars. These fashion choices filled plenty of column inches, of course.

But, of course, Dion’s main focus was her music, and she went on to put out a whopping 13 albums before the turn of the millennium. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that she decided to take things a little slower into the new decade. And Dion’s personal life was filled with highs and lows during this period, too. After watching her husband battle cancer, the star had cause for cheer again when she became a mother in 2001. Her first child, René-Charles Dion Angélil, was born at the beginning of that year.

And Dion seemed to adopt a more mature tone after the birth of her son. “Becoming a mother makes you a grown-up,” she told VH1 in 2002. “I approach my whole life differently now.” Still, just because she was a mom, it didn’t mean that she couldn’t keep surprising people with risqué fashion looks. In 2003, then, she wore a cut-out gown that showed off her hips to the Billboard Music Awards.

Dion started undergoing more fertility treatment not long afterward. “I’m approaching 40 years old, and I have to tend to that,” she told People in 2005. “This frozen embryo that is in New York is my child waiting to be brought to life.” Actually, there turned out to be two children; in 2010 Dion gave birth to twins Eddy and Nelson.

And in 2013 the still very famous and successful singer spoke to Woman’s Weekly about her rags-to-riches tale. “I remember passing down clothes from one sibling to another – I’m the youngest child of 14!” she said. “I had to walk to and from school four times a day often in snowstorms that were quite common in my hometown of Charlemagne in Quebec, Canada.” Dion also made it clear that she had once agonized over her looks.

She explained, “Growing up, I used to feel awkward and insecure because I had a problem with my teeth. I remember not feeling my best or looking my best.” She continued, “I felt like a real outsider and didn’t have many friends at school. I just wanted to be at home with my brothers and sisters and my parents because that was my most comfortable zone.”

And the following year, Dion explicitly spoke out against bullying in a video for the Quebec-based charity Fondation Jasmin Roy. Speaking French, she discussed her own experiences of being picked on. “Because I myself was a victim of bullying at school, I can understand the distress that young people go through,” the singer said.

But while Dion continued to excel on record and stage, her life would change irrevocably in 2016. In January of that year, her husband passed away due to complications from cancer. Then, within just 48 hours, the star’s brother Daniel lost his battle with the disease, too.

Nevertheless, at the end of 2016 Dion revealed that she was trying to survive as best she knew how. “I cannot just live on like, ‘I lost my husband, [and] my children have no father,’” she told Page Six. “I have to stand tall and strong because this is my way of living. Stand tall, be positive, pick your battles, do the best you can and to live for today – not for tomorrow, for today. And know nothing is perfect; not everything you want will happen.”

Dion also threw herself into the fashion world after her losses. “I’ve always loved fashion, but I thought after turning 30 or 40 if it’s not happening with me and fashion, it’s never going to happen,” she told Australian magazine Stellar. “Well, guess what? It’s happening! It’s never too late to feel good about yourself [and] never too late to be presented as a best-dressed woman.”

In 2018 Dion even launched Célinununu, a gender-neutral clothing range for children. And according to promotional material about the line, Célinununu intends to “[liberate] children from the traditional roles of boy/girl.” The brand’s wares also aim to “[enable] younger people to grow on values of equality with the freedom to strengthen their own power of personality based on mutual respect.”

But it wasn’t long after this that people began remarking on how Dion herself looked. Photos that the star posted on Instagram in January 2019, for instance, were met with a rather mixed response. “Goodness, what happened to you, Celine??!? You look starved!” read one comment. Another individual rather bluntly wrote to the singer, “Need to put on a few pounds. Looks too skinny.”

And at least one admirer seemed genuinely concerned for Dion. “Please gain a little weight, you are starting to look unhealthy. I don’t want to sound mean – I’m a big fan – but I just want you to live a very long time. Love you bunches,” the follower wrote underneath a picture of Dion in a power suit.

Others were rather more critical, however. One commenter wrote, for example, that Dion’s weight loss had “made her age 20 years from all the hanging skin.” And someone else referenced the fact that Dion had been made the new face of beauty brand L’Oreal Paris. “Don’t understand [L’Oreal], either,” they said on Instagram. “Not a good thing to promote [women who] look like they have [an] eating disorder.”

Then, at the end of January 2019, Dion publicly criticized the people who had commented on her weight. “I’m doing this for me. I want to feel strong, beautiful, feminine and sexy,” she told the Dan Wootton Interview podcast. “If I like it, I don’t want to talk about it. Don’t bother. Don’t take a picture. If you like it, I’ll be there. If you don’t, leave me alone.”

But even those words didn’t stop people commenting on Dion’s weight whenever she posted a new photo on Instagram. And some cruel remarks were aimed her way, too. “I’m in my mid-60s, and you have more wrinkles than I do. Gain some weight and get some mental help because you’ve turned into a freak since your husband passed on,” a particularly nasty troll wrote on her page in March 2019.

And in April 2019 Dion happened to bring up the subject of bullying when she was interviewed about her L’Oreal job. In a conversation with the media moderated by ABC’s Deborah Roberts, the singer discussed everything that she had had to overcome to gain self-confidence as an adult.

It turned out, too, that Dion had not loved her body as a teenager. “Even when I was so young, [I struggled with] not feeling confident, not feeling pretty [and] having problems with my teeth,” she explained to members of the press. “I was very, very skinny, and I was being bullied at school.” But although critics were still around, they seemingly hadn’t completely dented the star’s self-esteem.

Indeed, Dion adamantly revealed to the media, “I’ve never felt this in charge. [And] when you do feel in charge, it gives you a sense of strength and power. I’ve never felt as beautiful, as strong – and I really think that the best is yet to come.”

During the event, Dion also took the time to mention her late husband and how his belief in her had helped launch her career. “Angélil used to bring my parents and me here to Vegas. He was a gambler, and I’m so glad he was because no one was going to take a chance on a little girl who was thin and ugly,” she said.

Then, at around the same time as the press conference, Dion revealed what exactly had been making her lose weight. And, fortunately, the cause was nothing more sinister than a newfound love of ballet. “Dancing has been in my DNA all of my life,” Dion explained to People.

But while partaking in ballet was “a dream” for Dion, she also found it “so hard.” Nevertheless, the star was giving her all. “I do this [ballet practice] four times a week,” Dion added to the magazine. “People say, ‘She’s a lot thinner,’ but I’m working hard. I like to move, and [weight loss] comes with it.”

Yet even despite this explanation, Dion’s Instagram account still received its fair share of messages criticizing her size. When the star posted photos depicting her getting ready for the Met Gala, for example, she received comments including “Eat something please” and “Lost too much weight, looks like a skeleton.”

Some fans came to Dion’s defense, however. “Y’all here complaining about how thin she is, but her voice still rocks. How would you feel [if] someone comments on your post and judge[s] you for any reason?” one person wrote. “People [are] concerned if you are too thin [and] concerned if you are too thick. She looks pretty good to me and happy,” wrote another.

And one Instagram picture in particular appeared to draw a lot of attention. In June 2019 Dion uploaded a shot in which she sports a T-shirt bearing the acronym “FOMO,” with the image captioned, “It means Fear of Missing Out, or does it?” Yet while the post itself seemed completely innocuous, commenters turned once again to discussing Dion’s weight.

One follower wrote, for example, “Fear of missing out or fear of passing out? Someone please feed Celine!” Others seemed to assume that the star had an eating disorder. “She is ill and needs help! Terrible!” another individual opined.

And a further concerned commenter wrote, “I just hope that [Dion] stays healthy for her sons. I have heard of people losing appetite and their interest in life after the death of a loved one.” Yet the same person went on to admit that they had “no idea what’s going on in her life, in her mind or body” – and that was true for all the critics.

Yes, perhaps the only person who truly knows what’s going on with Dion’s health is the singer herself. And maybe fans should take her at her word when she speaks about how well she believes she’s doing now. In May 2019, for instance, a now fifty-something Dion seemingly professed to being comfortable in her own skin.

“Some people get a little scared about turning 50. I’m very happy at 51,” Dion revealed in an interview with Vogue. “I’m more experienced, and I’m more active now – with my dancing, my working out and my performing – than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Then when Vogue asked Dion, “What are some of the ways that you’ve been impressed by your own strength?” the singer answered, “I wouldn’t say that I’m impressed, but I do feel that I’ve got this added responsibility to raise my children. I also have to make more decisions about my career, which is a new challenge. I think I’m doing okay in both departments.”

And when Dion was questioned about her aspirations for the next decade, the star explained that her priority was to keep her children “happy and healthy.” She added, however, “I’m not planning on slowing down, that’s for sure! I want to keep creating, I like to stay busy, and, of course, I want to have fun.”