Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite Message Board

Mutt and fame forever changed Shania. She went from a warm and sweet woman with sincere ambition and natural talent to a cold, distant, insecure and now, bitter middle aged woman. Even though she tried to appear positive and cheery in Why Not, I wasn't convinced; she still has serious issues to sort through. Through Mutt's influence she either distanced herself from or completely cut off her support system. The first people to go were her old management team and then she separated herself from Nashville to live in Switzerland where she demanded no publicity and did not know the local languages and culture. The Swiss are known to be cold, not very accepting of foreigners and can even be racist (check it out on YouTube and they have racist billboards and news articles that would even shock some rural rednecks). Mutt is originally from South Africa so maybe these public displays of prejudice are nothing new to him, but one can see how Shania became miserable. She spent her early years with First Nations people after all and I don't think one just 'forgets' that with marriage, fame and fortune, or does it happen? After all those years of seclusion and estrangement from fellow artists and music industry people she is scrambling to get something started again. I think that's why she's taken so long in releasing new material (aside from her vocal problems). I think that Mutt's controlling ways in combination with Shania's desire to maintain a super successful career and previous history of domestic abuse may have kept her in an unhappy union. She probably thought he was prince charming and made the compromises that she thought would make her a good wife and mother. Survivors of domestic abuse are incapable of believe that one is deserving of happiness and success, it's either success and misery (to 'pay dues') or fleeting moments of happiness as they come. I actually feel kinda sad watching this footage because I know that this Shania will never return. It's like watching old movies of your wedding or high school graduation where a very special moment is captured that cannot be duplicated. I can really tell that she is touched by Timmins celebrating her achievements. Tommy thanks for posting Shania's homecoming.

Now that I look back in all those years when Shania was married to Mutt, she was living a double-life. 

With Fred, she doesn't seem to be doing that anymore, because Fred is always with Shania in the public eye.