On September 23, 2023, the singer Julio Iglesias, who gave the world the hits, turned 80 years old.
The singer was born in Madrid in 1943, into the family of Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, who was one of the youngest gynecologists in Spain.
Julio did not dream of the stage (at the time, he was not even accepted into the school choir): he was preparing for a career as a professional soccer player. However, the boy had to say goodbye to the sport due to a car accident: Iglesias damaged his spine and for some time he could not even walk.
When, at the age of 20, he was admitted to the hospital due to that fateful car accident, one of the nurses brought him a guitar, so that the patient could recover his manual dexterity. This is how Julio discovered his musical gift.
Just a few years later, Iglesias won a songwriting contest in Benidorm, performing with the song La Vida seguir Igual. This was followed by a record deal, his first solo album, and his participation in Eurovision. Julio obtained 4th place in this musical competition.
Remembering the successful beginning of his career as a singer, Iglesias also boasted about his love triumphs. For example, the artist said that he had a girlfriend in every city in Spain that he visited on tour in 1970. And this list included 41 locations.
However, in 1971, the Spanish heartthrob decided to get married. His chosen one was the journalist Isabel Preisler. Later, she confessed: “It goes without saying that we got married out of great love. It was because I was pregnant. The priest who married us said that he had never seen such a sad bride in his life. “I wasn’t ready to have a family yet.”
Sure enough, shortly after the wedding, the young wife gave birth to a daughter. But at that time, the couple told the public that little Chabeli had been born prematurely. In 1973 and 1975, the Iglesias family became rich with sons: the well-known Julio and Enrique.
And in 1978 Isabel asked for a divorce because she did not feel happy in the marriage. Perhaps the reason was also the spouse's infidelity. When Isabel called him at her hotel during the tour, strange women often picked up the phone.
Julio was once asked if it was true that he had had more than 3,000 lovers. He responded: “Apparently they only counted those before 1976, those after were left out.”
After his divorce, Julio had an affair with Priscilla Presley. They met at a drinking festival but did not exchange contacts. Then the couple saw each other in New York - Priscilla herself took the initiative, getting the number of the hotel where Julio was staying, and she called him. The lovers' relationship later became public when they were caught together by the paparazzi in 1981. However, when Iglesias was asked about his affair with Elvis' ex-wife, he responded: "She's just a friend of mine."
The artist also drove the “Bond girl” Ursula Andress crazy. In her interview for a famous magazine, the actress was sincere: “Julio is an incredible lover. He is so romantic.”
He also couldn't resist the charisma of singer Yolanda Hadid, the famous mother of the equally famous Bella and Gigi. The model had a relationship with Iglesias when she was 22 years old. According to rumors, she wanted to abandon her career and start a family with the artist, but he had no such plans.
In 1990, the artist met the Dutch model Miranda Rainsburger, 22 years younger than him. The young woman confessed: “I was intimidated by his reputation as a womanizer, but I fell madly in love. I think he does too.”
Iglesias, for his part, assured that he had abandoned his habit of making dates with different women before concerts. However, the artist did not marry Miranda until 2010.
The media claimed that heartthrob Julio remained true to himself, and Reinsburger simply learned to give his lover the freedom he was so accustomed to.
Miranda had 5 children with Julio Iglesias: the boys Miguel Alejandro, Rodrigo, and Guillermo, and the twins Victoria and Cristina. The former model joked that she was the one who postponed the wedding because she wanted her daughters to be bridesmaids.
In 2019, it came to light that Julio could have another son, Javier Sánchez, born to a Portuguese dancer whom the singer met in 1975. Iglesias denied paternity and flatly refused to undergo a DNA test. Therefore, Javier resorted to a trick: with the help of a detective, he obtained a bottle from which Julio Iglesias Jr. had drunk water and provided samples of genetic material to the specialists. These confirmed that Julio Jr. and Javier are brothers.
The judge did not accept the results of this DNA test for processing but ruled in favor of Javier. He declared: “The similarities between Iglesias and Sánchez are evident.”
However, Julio decided to appeal the sentence and the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that there was insufficient evidence of his paternity. However, Javier today continues to defend his truth and affirms that he is willing to renounce any inheritance in advance, to obtain the singer's favor. “I just want him to meet his granddaughter,” explains the man, who has already been a father.
