Rocked by her husband's affair with her supposed best friend, Shania Twain had one chance to confront the other woman.
It didn't go well.
Not long after she found out about the double betrayal, the country star encountered her former friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud, near her home in Switzerland.
"I had a total panic attack," Twain, 45, speaking at her new home in the Bahamas, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. "I just told her that she was a bad person – that's all I could get out!"
"When I left her, I thought [to myself], 'You're such a wimp, you coward!' " Twain recalls with a laugh. "That was my big moment, and I blew it!"
All that is past history, as Twain has had her own second chance at love – with Thiébaud's ex-husband, Fred, 40.
Wed on New Year's Day in Puerto Rico, the couple are relishing their newlywed life, even while Twain hits the road to promote her new memoir, From This Moment On, and a docu-series on Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network, Why Not? with Shania Twain.
"Fred," says Twain, "has given me a second lease on love."
For more on Twain's surviving the betrayal and finding love again – plus, an exclusive book excerpt – pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday
Another home for Shania. This time in the Bahamas!
Yeah: she's gonna throw huge beach party for the fans in her backyard!!!
Just kidding....
She looks totally different in those photos. I wonder if Mutt kicked himself in the rear yet? lol
I found a scan of the first pages of the article. It says Shania lives in the Bahamas now, Eja goes to school there and they recently adopted a new puppy named Jett.
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Shania Twain: `I`ll always love ex-husband Mutt Lange`
Shania Twain has admitted that she will 'always love' her ex-husband, Mutt Lange, who left her for her best friend.
The 45-year-old country singer was left heartbroken when Lange left with her assistant, Marie-Anne Thiebaud, in 2008.
Twain admits relations between her and Lange are still strained three years on, but she hopes they will one day become friends again so they can better raise their nine-year-old son, Eja.
She told People magazine, 'It would be nice to be friends and not just co-parents... I will always love him. You can't just turn love on and off. (But) I will never be OK with what they did.'
Twain later found happiness with Marie-Anne's ditched husband Frederic Thiebaud, who she went on to marry.
She added, 'It is twisted. But it is very beautifully twisted... We never, ever expected anything like this. It's just a really beautiful love story.'
The pictures in people magazine are beautiful. It has to help build her self esteem knowing how much everyone loves her. Especially after letting everyone see all the things she went through and tried to hide in the past. A lot of the physical effects she describes almost sound like severe panic attacks. She is a stunningly courageous woman.