Nacho Mendoza‘s life took a 180 degree turn on July 5th, when he and his girlfriend, Melany Mille, joyfully witnessed the birth of Mya Michelle, their ’princess’. Although she is the youngest of the 36 year old singer’s children, she is his first baby girl,who from the day she came into this world, taught him a new meaning of love, so special that he considers it infinite and unconditional.
Miguel Ignacio Mendoza Donatti - his birth name - had chosen to keep the details of this new stage of his life private and even decided to step away from social media for the past couple of months. He chose HOLA! to share an exclusive look into his private life. Nacho spoke about his current love-life, fatherhood, as well as the reaction of his older children: Diego, Santiago, Matías and Miguel, from his previous relationships, upon learning that they would have a little sister. In this time of confinement, the artist and his girlfriend are staying on Margarita Island in Venezuela, where his first daughter was born. Melany‘s pregnancy - of which we have beautiful images never seen before - was healthy, but in the final moments of birth, there were some complications in the delivery that narrowly tarnished their joy. Fortunately, mother and daughter are doing well at home, sheltered by the love of Nacho and their loved ones.
Motivated by the new direction of his life, the Venezuelan singer opened up to us with details about his separation from his wife Inger Devera, making it clear that there were no third parties involved and that the decision was mutual. Months after knowing that his marriage had come to an end, and after several unfounded rumors, the singer finally revealed to us the beginning of his love story with Melany, which he fondly remembers for our HOLA! USA readers.
This is our first digital cover of this unprecedented year, 2020. Do not miss every detail of this conversation, from the exclusive photos, to the video of Nacho telling us about his past, present and future!
In an exclusive for HOLA! USA, the singer shared photos of the sweet moments waiting for his newborn baby, Mya Michelle.
“At this moment, I am not trying to clarify anything to detractors. Simply, the people who care about me and the people who love me and who are confused, but who sincerely love me, perhaps all I want to do is to have them know the story better.”
Melany Mille looked spectacular at the end of her pregnancy.
Nacho, during this quarantine time, you have been able to work on new music, and a new project with Chyno. Can you tell us more?
Yes. I had to assemble my studio here and I was able to contact some colleagues and sound engineers who helped me set it up, at least to record my voice, since I cannot record instruments, this gave me the opportunity to develop a new album with my partner Chyno.
How has your work experience changed during the quarantine?
At the moment when the quarantine was extreme, I recorded the most. I was able to concentrate a lot on interpretation. I also wrote a lot too.I had the time to record and delete and to try over and over until I was completely satisfied with the final product. This is a luxury that I don’t usually have. Many times we record songs in a rush and some songs work and some don’t and when they do work, thank God! and when they don’t, one feels that it was because they were rushed. This time I didn’t have any excuses. This time I did it with all the love in the world. I did my best and I had the time to do it.
Do you have a release date for this new material?
The truth is, I don’t. There’s no way of knowing when this strange time period will end, so it makes it difficult to decide when to release the new material. We want to share our music prior to a tour announcement, which is what we’re most excited about doing again.
What does it mean to you to welcome your long-awaited ‘little princess’ in this pandemic?
It is something super magical. Obviously, all my children are my loves, my biggest loves. I love all of them and the truth is that I‘m not with them now because of the impossibility of traveling, but I already had four boys in a row, all of them super special. I would try to imagine what it was like to have a daughter because having boys was already a known experience for me. It is different because with boys is more a matter of camaraderie, friendship, like games are rougher and dialogue is different. The words one uses with boys are very different from girls. Having a daughter is like your perfect girl, the perfect girl for you, the perfect love. I think you always imagine the perfect woman in your partner and in reality, although you can get a wonderful partner, your daughter will always be perfect. No matter what mistakes you make, nothing matters, it is simply an insurmountable amount of love.
Nacho Mendoza y Melany Mille welcomed the baby girl on July 5, 2020.
“At the moment that we decided to separate, it had nothing to do with the issue of infidelity, but it does have to do with the issue of misunderstanding. It is about people who one day say, “Look, I think that at the moment we are not understanding each other. Right now you want one thing and I want something else.”
How are the baby and the mother?
Super! The baby is doing incredibly well. Thank God I can’t complain. The baby is really beautiful. She is very pretty. She is a very nice little thing and she is in very good health. We were very aware that everything has its time and we were prepared for birth at all times, and in fact, we moved to the hospital after the contractions. From that point on there were certain health complications for the mother because we were trying ... well, she had the desire to have a natural childbirth and in reality it could not happen because the contractions started much earlier and the dilation was too small at the time, so she had to wait. It had to be like 20 hours minimum receiving that pressure, because they are quite strong pains. We decided to proceed with a cesarean section to ease the pain and have the proper procedure in order to make it less painful. She had a complication because one of the intravenous lines came out and the liquid began to leak inside her arm, so that generated phlebitis that caused a blood clot. If you do not attack it in time, it can move through the body and can reach your brain or heart. There was a slight complication with that, so the following days were tough but thank God it’s totally normal. I think the strongest effort, apart from the pain she felt during birth, was having to stop breastfeeding the baby for five days. Because she was taking antibiotics and a lot of medicine, she couldn‘t give her breast milk for five days, but thank God she got her rhythm back.
How does fatherhood feel during this time of your life?
I have more time than ever because of the lockdown. In my previous relationship, about four years ago, I tried to slow down my career and it didn‘t happen. Any time I thought I should lower my work intensity, a song would come out that, thanks to God, became a success or some new project that was presented to me. I have almost never rejected good projects. So, at the end of the day, even though I tried, I still had a fairly fast-paced life and 70% of my time was dedicated to my career. I have been used to not spending more than one week anywhere. Let’s say, a vacation for about two weeks at most, but for 17 years or so I have been from “del timbo al tambo”, as they say in my country, from here to there and from there to here (non-stop). I think fatherhood was presented to me at a time in my life when God and circumstances helped me and forced me to be a parent 24/7.
What has been the most difficult thing you have had to face during this process?
The most complicated thing is that I think that many people idealized my past relationship and made it their own. It generated a sense of belonging in people, that situation, that relationship, and I think many were not prepared for that separation. We were both very prepared, much calmer and much more confident with the issue of separating than other people were. So, I think people simply did not want to accept this separation as a couple in any way and demonized anything that had to do with my private life. The strongest thing is trying to keep my new partner calm, by trying to make her blind and deaf to criticism that she is not used to receiving and that, of course, she does not deserve. I also showed her some examples because this thing about my separation came from a long time ago, but somehow I was, and I think I am still, in a phase of rebellion where I feel that I don‘t have to explain my life to people.
Would you like to clarify whether or not there was infidelity in your previous relationship?
During our relationship there was infidelity. Be careful. During our relationship; not that our relationship ended because of infidelity. I say this because I like to be honest. I don‘t have to lie. If I overcame this situation of infidelity with my ex-partner and we continued trying everything that has to be done to prosper as a couple, because I am not afraid to say clearly that there were failures, my failures, her failures. But perhaps, the accumulation of failures and the misunderstanding at the end of our relationship was what made us make that decision. It was not because: “Ah, no, I caught you with another woman”. None of that novel that people imagine exists. That is an invention of people who want to make a story and a movie in their minds that does not exist. At the moment that we decided to separate, it had nothing to do with the issue of infidelity, but it does have to do with the issue of misunderstanding. It is about people who one day say, ”Look, I think that at the moment we are not understanding each other. Right now you want one thing and I want something else”. We didn’t feel that we should continue just because we have children. I think we can continue parenthood with the same intensity. I think we can try to be good friends, even though at the beginning we have a mourning period, I think we can work through this time period and become good friends. There were no slaps, there were no broken dishes. There was not anything that people imagine.
Melany Mille, glows with happiness days before becoming a mother.
“The most complicated thing is that I think that many people idealized my past relationship and made it their own. It generated a sense of belonging in people, that situation, that relationship, and I think many were not prepared for that separation.”
How did you meet your daughter‘s mother?
I was looking to do a photo shoot here in Venezuela and searching for a photographer. A colleague told me about her (Melany) and told me that she was a person who worked in the industry. The colleague also told me that she had a modeling academy and that she had been in a beauty pageant, TV commentator and that she was also a producer. Thus, she could help me find the photographer I needed in Caracas. So, they connected me with Melany. I asked her about the photographer and I told her that if she had the knowledge, that she should join me and could be helpful throughout the shoot. From that moment we began to spend time together. It was like three days of photo shooting where she accompanied me every day and obviously, on the third day, I was telling her the story of my life. I was already telling her everything about my separation. I was already telling her everything that had happened in those months. People don’t know that at the end of my marriage, we tried to live in the same house. Then I moved and there was a time where I did not really have a residence. I stayed in some hotels in Miami with which I had a business agreement. I was in my office for a while and I was using the showers at some of my friend’s houses in Miami. These friends can also attest to all of this. Plus, I was also separating from my previous business team. It was quite a difficult time for me because I was alone in Miami. Afterwards, I kept talking to Melany and asked her to style me for some awards they do here in Venezuela called the ‘Pepsi’ awards. I asked her to accompany me and then the madness broke out. Everyone started gossiping that she, that I, etc... People did not know what stage my relationship was in and just speculated that I had no shame. They said that I was dating a person, and I didn’t care that I was being seen. In any case, that‘s how we met. Then when we saw each other, we chatted about our days. We had the chance to meet in Colombia again when I was recording and I went to have dinner with her. I got to know her little by little...
Have you thought about getting married again?
Actually, I haven‘t thought about that yet. It is not one of my priorities right now. I know that is the dream of every woman, I guess. I want to live without worrying about what they will say, learn from the mistakes of the past and try not to repeat them again. Take advantage of the time I have to continue being a father. I don’t remember not being a father because I have been a father since I was 21 years old. I want us to continue being the best couple that we can be; I want to try to self-study, self-criticize, shape my character, be a better version of myself, try to focus also on balancing time and focusing on my business and career. I want to live and that both of us, as a couple, demonstrate to each other that all this struggle we have endured has helped us. Believe me, not everyone has the spiritual strength to survive as a couple in a storm like this one. I think if there weren‘t strong feelings or a strong bond, people and gossip would have swayed us to end our relationship, despite having a baby. Really, we think that we have been brave and that we have been standing firm with what we feel. We have a clear conscience that is the most important thing, understanding that we did not hurt anyone. Obviously, there is mourning in relationships. It is not easy for me to immediately see the mother of my children with a new partner, nor is it easy for her to see me with another partner. It is understandable. That was a long relationship.
Do your children already know their little sister?
My eldest son was like he didn‘t understand this, because he has seen all his brothers born and he is from a different womb. It was like a surprise that he did not understand and he wondered: how do I do it, how do you take care of a girl? And he naturally thinks about how he cares for her and what will happen when she grows up. The children are very excited. For Miguelitoit was a different feeling because he is already 10 years old and he knows that it is a blessing, but it was difficult for him. On one hand, there is excitement and on the other hand, is the knowledge that their dad is starting another family. I had to have that particular conversation with Miguelito and say, “Look, my love for you is irreplaceable. My love for you is for you, my love for Santiago is for Santiago and my love for Matías is for Matías. Nothing and no one is going to change that. You have to be happy because your little sister is a blessing for our lives and she will be everyone’s princess”. That night he said to me: ”Well, daddy, tomorrow I will tell you what I feel.” Miguelito is very mature. At that time, I felt that he was content at one moment and saddened at another. He had that range of emotions. The next day he called me and said, “Daddy, I can speak now and I am happy. My mom explained that you are always there for us”. In the end everything was very nice.
What was it like, the moment you met your daughter?
What struck me the most was that from the first moment she was in the operating room, the baby was born very clean and delicate. Babies are born somewhat swollen and she was born perfect. She didn’t have that swelling and she looked so pretty with that skin so fresh and white, pretty. It shined. I loved it! I saw her and immediately fell in love. It was love at first sight. I couldn‘t stop saying: “she’s so beautiful”. I have a recording saying that over and over again. Obviously, it’s for us and family consumption. I didn’t even want to count all the times I said: ”she’s so beautiful”, because that’s the only thing I could say. Crazy. The truth is that it was a very beautiful moment.
The proud parents decided to keep the identity of their baby private.
“We have decided not to show our daughter, which is not the same as hiding our daughter, because we have nothing to hide.”
Now that you have the princess, do you plan to have more children?
For now, I want to enjoy our baby very much and I want her to have years of a dad who enjoys her and cares for her. Later, later, my partner and I will see, right? I suppose that she too, as a young woman, will not only want to have only one daughter. We will see later. Anyway, I‘m already used to having a big family. I am the youngest of nine.
Are you planning to stay on Margarita Island or move with the family to Miami?
I feel that with God‘s grace I have health and a lot of time left to share with my children, but I have to wait for this pandemic to pass, to see how much I have invested here. I have tried to grow my business in Venezuela and I have settled roots here because when this opens again, I will have the opportunity to go to the United States every now and then, where I have the most work, so I will see my children a lot. Right now, I can’t say, “I plan to move or return to Miami, because I never moved. The pandemic left me here and I am doing social work. I feel that many people benefit in a good way from my presence here on Margarita Island. I am delivering food. I am helping with the issue of water in many localities. I am repairing sports spaces, a bit of everything, and I believe that God put me on this mission for now. I’m going to wait for the airports to open and I’m going to go back immediately to see my children and hug and kiss them, see how my things are there and then I will determine if I live in Miami again or not.
What would you like to tell your detractors?
At this moment, I am not trying to clarify anything to detractors. Simply, the people who care about me and the people who love me and who are confused, but who sincerely love me, perhaps all I want to do is to have them know the story better. The people who put me down or criticize me are people who have problems. They do not interest me. I do not wish them harm because they must have rather disturbed lives. The people that love me understand that the timing of Melany’s pregnancy had nothing to do with this and it is not the reason for my separation. She got pregnant very quickly because God decided so. I did not have to, apart from keeping a time of mourning, deny myself the possibility of remaking my life as well; just as the mother of my children should not be denied that possibility. We have decided not to show our daughter, which is not the same as hiding our daughter, because we have nothing to hide. I have learned my lesson from all of this. I’m open with my children because of the love I feel for them. There was a moment when people started to mess with my children, and they don‘t remember that, and maybe those same people who messed with and criticized my children, are the people who later defended the relationship that they initially criticized so much. We have decided not to show our baby in order to take care of her.
Even though Nacho was not unfamiliar with the happiness that comes with being a father, this is his first daughter and it has been a different experience.
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