‘It is Part of the Job!’: How Modest Rafael Nadal Reacted to Now-Wife Maria’s Name Being Taken After Starring in Racy Shakira Song

Back in 2010, Rafael Nadal starred in a music video with Colombian pop icon Shakira. He later jokingly dismissed the notion his girlfriend Maria Perello would be bothered by it, saying it was a part of his job.

The music video for Shakira’s song Gypsy (Gitana in the Spanish version), part of her album She Wolf, was released in early 2010. Nadal starred as the singer’s love interest, grabbing eyeballs. This came as a surprise to many tennis fans since he was known as someone shy and reserved.

The music video, and the song itself, met with positive reception. Many media outlets praised the chemistry between Nadal and Shakira, calling it ‘flirty’. Some publications like HuffPost called the video ‘steamy’.

A few months later, Rafael Nadal talked about shooting the video with Shakira. The interviewer sarcastically remarked it looked like a tough job to romance the superstar Grammy winner. The Spaniard laughed and said it was not difficult. The interviewer then enquired whether Nadal had shown the video to his girlfriend, whom he had been dating for five years at that point, and how she received it since it was a very ‘sexy’ video. With a big grin, the 22-time Grand Slam champion said there were no issues.

“No problem, that’s part of the job.”

Even though Nadal was dating Perello since 2005, some tabloid rumours suggested he was romantically involved with Shakira after this video. However, she would soon go on to date soccer star Gerard Pique, who is also on good terms with Nadal. The couple first met during the making of her very next video, Waka Waka. This, combined with Nadal’s dismissal of his music video as nothing but a day’s work, quashed all speculations.

Shakira revealed why she wanted Rafael Nadal to star in the Gypsy music video

A few weeks after the official music video for Gypsy, Shakira uploaded a behind-the-scenes video on YouTube. The word is often used to colloquially describe a person with a nomadic lifestyle, always on the move. The Colombian pop star felt it described her and reflected her lifestyle. She said she is always travelling for her work and living in different cultures, making her feel like a gypsy.

Shakira revealed the reason she reached out to Rafael Nadal to star in the video was because she felt he also lives a similar nomadic lifestyle. She said she ‘identified’ with how Nadal’s career made him travel across the world and he achieved great things doing so. Of course, him being good-looking helped Shakira make the decision.

“When I thought of including someone in this video, I wanted this person to be someone I felt identified with, someone who had travelled the world and had to fight many battles and give the best in himself to achieve something. So I thought of Rafael Nadal because he is also a person who started his career very, very young and pursued his own goals. Also, he’s very good looking.”

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• Rafael Nadal
• Shakira