Who is Ricky Martin’s ex Jwan Yosef? Swedish painter shares insight into co parenting relationship with singer

Jwan Yosef’s story stretched across borders: born in Syria, raised in Sweden, and later based in London. Painting became the point where his experiences met, providing a space to reconcile the different worlds that shaped him. Speaking with Metal, he said his journey into art had felt natural from an early age, though the path required years of growth and discipline. He admitted that living between Syrian and Swedish cultures left him in an in-between space.

Rather than seeing it as a conflict, Jwan Yosef regarded the mixture as something dynamic, a perspective that continued to influence his work. Years later, after his split from Ricky Martin, Yosef again drew attention not for his art but for his role as a parent. He explained how he and the singer worked as partners in raising their daughter, Lucia, and son, Renn, despite no longer being together.

Jwan Yosef reflected on fatherhood and co-parenting with Ricky Martin in a new interview:

Jwan Yosef described co-parenting with Ricky Martin as both calm and rewarding. In his Attitude interview published, the artist said,

“We’ve actually had the most wonderful relationship. It’s a very solid and calm co-parenting situation. We live 10 minutes away from each other. We speak every other day. We love our kids so much.”

Jwan Yosef also reflected on the challenges of fatherhood.

“It’s super fun and glorious and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but it’s also the most stressful thing [and] the most rewarding thing at the same time, they give you nothing sometimes; they give you everything sometimes! It’s a whole spectrum of emotions.” he explained.

He added that parenting with Martin, who was also raising his 17-year-old twins Matteo and Valentino, had been eye-opening.

“It’s been the most amazing thing to be a queer man in our society today to raise these kids into a pretty amazing awareness, this is a conversation I have with my kids every other day explaining how different families look. It’s educational for them, but it also really puts things into context for myself as a parent.” Yosef explained.

Ricky Martin revealed divorce from Jwan Yosef was planned before the pandemic:

Ricky Martin spoke candidly about his divorce from Jwan Yosef in 2023, reflecting on how the separation unfolded. The former couple had announced the end of their six-year marriage in a joint statement to People.

“We have decided to end our marriage with love, respect and dignity for our children and honoring what we have experienced as a couple all these wonderful years, our greatest desire now is to continue having a healthy family dynamic and a relationship centered on peace and friendship to continue the joint upbringing of our children, preserving the respect and love we have for each other.”

In an interview with Telemundo journalist Lourdes Collazo, Martin revealed that the decision had been reached much earlier than the public realized. “When the public found out, we had already gone through the grieving process,” he explained, according to Hola!.

“Jwan and I will always be family. We have two children that we are going to raise together, and this is not a recent decision. We have been planning this situation for a long time, it’s pre-pandemic.” he shared.

Although the breakup was painful, Martin noted that his relationship with Jwan Yosef had grown stronger afterward.

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“We look into each other’s eyes and smile, we hug each other, and we go through the ups and downs, we cry together, and we laugh together, it has been wonderful. I even told Jwan we should write a book about how to get divorced properly… It has been easier than we thought, but we’ve done it with time and calmness.” he shared.

The pair first met on Instagram in 2016 before beginning their relationship.

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