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The Romantic Reason Michael Bublé Learned to Speak Spanish Over 15 Years Ago
The Voice Coach and Canadian singer's favorite Spanish phrase is pretty NSFW.
Michael Bublé is very Canadian. Heck, he installed an ice rink in the basement of his British Columbia home. The Voice Coach is very proud of his nationality but he’s also, of course, an international superstar who’s performed all over the world. And someone special he met on tour many years ago is the reason Bublé speaks Spanish so well today.
Bublé met his wife, Argentine actress Luisana Lopilato, at an after-party following one of his concerts in 2008. “I was doing a show in Buenos Aires, I saw her across a room when my security were throwing me in a van,” Bublé told Ireland’s RTÉ One in 2012. “I was actually really bummed … My grandfather was with me and I said, ‘You know, grandpa, that’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and I’m never going to see her again.”
“A few hours later it just happened that she’d been invited to the same party that I was at,” he continued. “She couldn’t speak English, I couldn’t speak Spanish. She walked in with this boy that honestly was incredibly good-looking and I felt like a turd.”
After a few cocktails, Bublé eventually struck up a conversation with the good-looking guy, who spoke English, to figure out if they were dating. Bublé told RTÉ One that the man clarified that he and Lopilato were just friends and the two finally connected.
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At the beginning of their relationship, Bublé and Lopilato relied on technology and bilingual friends to communicate. “We would use a computer to translate and speak to each other,” Bublé told Access Hollywood.
Bublé and Lopilato both went on to study each other’s language and now the couple, who share four children together, can communicate in both English and Spanish.
So where are Bublé’s Spanish skills today, and do their kids also speak the language? Here’s everything you need to know.
Does Michael Bublé speak Spanish fluently?
Bublé is not a native Spanish speaker, but the singer speaks the language proficiently. In fact, Bublé has learned to speak Spanish so well, he uses it when he argues with his wife in public or in front of friends. “Two languages are very handy,” he shared with The Sunday Times in 2013.
Bublé often shares posts in Spanish on social media. He also often uses the language on the street with fans and in his career. For example, when he served as a guest judge on America’s Got Talent in 2015, he spoke to Colombian contestant Daniella Mass’ mother in the crowd: "Su bebe es muy, muy linda. Ella tiene buena, buena voz,” Bublé told the proud mom, which translates to “Your baby is very, very cute. She has a very good voice.” Howard Stern jokingly called him a “showoff.”
When did Michael Bublé learn to speak Spanish?
Bublé started learning Spanish after he met his wife in 2008. “When I first met her, I didn’t speak one word of Spanish. She didn’t speak any English,” Bublé told Access Hollywood about when they first met over 15 years ago.
Just a few years later, Bublé was speaking Spanish with ease and even picked up a few curse words along the way. In an interview with Fresh 102.7 in 2013, Bublé revealed his favorite Spanish phrase Lopilato has taught him. “The best is ‘cerrá el culo’ … It basically means ‘shut your a**.’”
RELATED: Michael Bublé Tearing Up to Snoop Dogg About Getting to Meet Him Is So Tender
Do Michael Bublé’s kids speak Spanish?
They sure do. Bublé and Lopilato speak both English and Spanish with their four children: Noah, 11; Elias, 8; Vida, 6; and Cielo, 2.
“[My wife] refused to speak English with our kids and what a gift because they speak perfect Spanish,” Bublé told Access Hollywood, adding that they’ll even correct him on his grammar from time to time.
The couple’s oldest son, Noah, showed his ability to switch back and forth between English and Spanish in a video on Bublé’s YouTube channel in 2020.
Michael Bublé spoke Spanish on The Voice Season 26
Once again, Bublé showed off his Spanish skills on the very first episode of The Voice Season 26. Within seconds of 18-year-old Kiara Vega’s performance of “Amor Eterno” during her Blind Audition, the rookie Coach spun his chair around and persuaded the Artist to join his team.
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“Seriously, it’s such a pleasure for me whenever I hear your voice … I want to make your life better,” Bublé said to Vega in Spanish, prompting fellow Coach Reba McEntire to hilariously chime in. “OK, cut it out! … Is this fair?”
While Vega said she understood Bublé’s Spanish perfectly, he joked that he had “no idea” what he said. “Like my wife said, ‘You talk like a caveman.’”
