Miguel Reflects on Split From Ex-Wife Nazanin Mandi: ‘Wasn’t in the Headspace to Be With Anyone’

Miguel reflected on the end of his 17-year relationship with ex-wife Nazanin Mandi in a new interview, and said he just “wasn’t whole” during their time together.

In an interview with Club Shay Shay to talk about his new album CAOS, the R&B singer spoke openly about where things went wrong with his longtime love. “I know where I went wrong though, I wasn’t whole,” he said at 14-minute mark in lengthy interview. “I’m not saying that I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I got all the answers now,’ but even being able to say and admit that I’m not whole … it completely changes the way that I approach things, you know?”

The singer said that he “wasn’t in the headspace to be with anyone,” and that he “didn’t know how to communicate that.” He said that while their connection was real and meaningful, “I didn’t set it up properly, you know? I didn’t just build the trust as just a friendship to protect that later on … the way that I could have.”

Miguel admitted he could have communicated better with Mandi, and that in retrospect he should have been more open with her. “If I was to do it again, I would have really said, ‘Hey, I’m actually not ready right now!” Miguel said. “But when you meet someone and you’re like, man, I really need something special here, I can see where everything happened.”

The former couple still hold “a tremendous amount of love” for each other, and Miguel said he and Mandi are “working very hard to not make it about what it was.” He added his song “Always Time” off his latest record was about the dissolution of his marriage and was very therapeutic for him.

“It allowed me to kind of look at myself and go, ‘You know, I made a lot of mistakes, man. I’m not perfect!’” He said of the song. “I’m a much more aware person now. And I hate that I had to learn it the hard way, but we must continue.”

Miguel and Nazanin started dating when they were just 19-years-old, tying the knot in 2018.

Watch the full interview below.