“I used to think I was very ugly” – Ronaldo Nazario’s bodybuilder ex-girlfriend makes honest admission about insecurity
Brazil icon Ronaldo Nazario’s former girlfriend Michele Umezu has opened up about her insecurities, admitting that she felt judged for her Japanese roots.
Umezu has been a renowned bodybuilder and model for several years. The 41-year-old has 213,000 followers on Instagram and regularly shares snaps and videos from her workout sessions on the platform. In her recent images, she seems to be quite confident in her skin, but according to her, it has not always been that way.
In an interview with Quem News, Umezu said that she was insecure about her looks, and it only changed after her trip to Thailand:
“I used to think I was very ugly, but today I feel good about my outfit.“Even because beauty ends, we all age one day, but I felt better than when I was in my 20s.”
She added that she's often laughed at by Brazilians for being of Japanese descent.
“People make fun of me because I'm Japanese; people make jokes. It's strange because here I'm Japanese, and in Japan, I'm a foreigner,” she continued.
“Here in Rio, there are few Japanese. So, it draws a lot of attention. I am always labelled. After I lived in Thailand, I freed myself from standards that only exist here in Brazil.”
Michele dated Ronaldo for a while in 2004. She gave birth to a boy, Alexander, following her relationship with the Real Madrid legend, claiming that the Brazilian was his father.
Ronaldo contested her claims, but following a lengthy trial, the court declared that the two-time FIFA World Cup winner is Alexander’s biological father.
Ronaldo Nazario’s eldest son makes it big after choosing vastly different career path
Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo Nazario became a father for the first time in 2000 when playing for AC Milan.
His eldest son, Ronald, initially followed in his legendary father’s footsteps and was called up to Brazil’s U-18 squad. Ronald has since veered away from the sport, dumping football to become a professional DJ.
Ronald has done fairly well for himself in the field, regularly featuring in Ibiza, the hotspot of dance music. The 23-year-old, who specialises in electronic and house music, arguably enjoyed the best moment of his career in 2022 when he played in front of 60,000 Cruzeiro fans.
Ronaldo, who spent the 1993-94 season at Cruzeiro, has a controlling stake in the club.