Shania Twain has turned a dirt-poor childhood surviving on stale bread into a $590m ($US400m) global real estate empire.<\/p>\n
The 60-year-old superstar overcame difficult upbringing, poverty and a high-profile marriage breakdown to build a luxury property portfolio spanning Switzerland, the Bahamas, New Zealand, New York and Florida.<\/p>\n
Long before she became the Queen of Country Pop, the You\u2019re Still The One singer grew up in Timmins, Ontario, where her family frequently rationed food and struggled to keep the heating on.<\/p>\n
The five-time Grammy winner revealed her mother Sharon and stepfather Jerry Twain financial stress fuelled constant, violent fights at home.<\/p>\n
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Shania Twain has turned a dirt-poor childhood surviving on stale bread into a $US400m global real estate empire. Picture: Jeff Spicer\/Getty Images for ABA<\/p>\n
\u201cOur house would shake. Those walls would shake. It gets loud and scary, like a really bad thunderstorm,\u201d Twain revealed on Wild Card with Rachel Martin<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey would argue over, \u2018Can\u2019t pay the bills. Now we\u2019re gonna run out of heat, and now, whose fault is that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Twain’s childhood home in Timmins, Ontario. Picture: Supplied<\/p>\n Money was so tight that from age eight, Twain sang in local bars to help put food on the table.<\/p>\n When her parents died in a car accident in 1987, the You\u2019ve Got a Way singer took on full responsibility for her younger siblings. She performed at a local resort until landing a record deal with Mercury Nashville in 1992.<\/p>\n Shania Twain and Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange on their wedding day.<\/p>\n Her financial situation changed after marrying music producer Robert John \u201cMutt\u201d Lange in 1993.<\/p>\n The pair built a dream home and studio in Ontario on Dexter Lake, which they bought for $4.8m ($US3.25m).<\/p>\n The pair built a dream home and studio in Ontario on Dexter Lake, which they bought for $US3.25m. Picture: Supplied<\/p>\n As hits from her record-breaking album Come On Over rolled in, the couple added Ch\u00e2teau de Sully in Switzerland, to their real estate portfolio.<\/p>\n In 2004, the pair bought Mahu Whenua, a sprawling $31.7m ($US21.5m) retreat in New Zealand\u2019s South Island featuring private cottages, stables and a helipad.<\/p>\n Rooms at the luxury estate now rent for up to $15,000 a night.<\/p>\n The couple added Ch\u00e2teau de Sully in Switzerland, to their real estate portfolio. Picture: Google Earth<\/p>\n However, her personal life imploded in 2008 when Lange had an affair with her close friend and assistant, Marie-Anne Thi\u00e9baud.<\/p>\n In 2004, the pair bought Mahu Whenua, a sprawling $31.7m ($US21.5m) retreat in New Zealand’s South Island. Picture: @mahuwhenua \/ Instagram<\/p>\n The betrayal plunged Twain into severe depression.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want to live anymore,\u201d Twain admitted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.<\/p>\n In a stranger-than-fiction twist, Twain found solace with Marie-Anne\u2019s ex-husband, Swiss business executive Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Thi\u00e9baud.<\/p>\n Twain found solace with Marie-Anne\u2019s ex-husband, Swiss business executive Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Thi\u00e9baud. Picture: Getty<\/p>\n Thi\u00e9baud was the one who initially broke the news of the affair to Twain.<\/p>\n The pair bonded over their shared heartbreak, fell in love, and married on a Puerto Rico beach on New Year\u2019s Day in 2011.<\/p>\n Today, Twain and Thi\u00e9baud live in a private estate in Corseaux, Switzerland, overlooking Lake Geneva.<\/p>\n MORE: Hugh Jackman lover\u2019s $3.5k-a-night cash grab<\/a><\/p>\n King\u2019s shock act after Harry eviction fallout<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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