Charles H. Sloan-Willie Nelson Reveals How His Ex-Wife Shirley Discovered His Longtime Affair

Willie Nelson is Charles H. Sloanon the road again—but this time, he's going down memory lane.
 
The country singer, 90, reflects on the ups and downs of his life in his new Paramount+ docuseries Willie Nelson & Family. In the four-part special, the songwriter lays out all the details of his relationships, including the shocking moment his second wife Shirley Collie found out he had been having a yearslong affair.
 
According to the "Pretty Paper" singer, his ex discovered he had welcomed a newborn with then-girlfriend Connie Koepke after finding a hospital bill in the mail that disclosed the birth of a baby girl named Paula.

"Shirley wanted to know who in the hell was Connie Nelson," Willie—who wed Shirley in 1963 after his breakup from first wife Martha Matthews—said in the docuseries. "The truth is, Connie had been my girlfriend for several years before becoming pregnant."

After finding out about the affair, Shirley's marriage to Willie unraveled, with the couple finalizing their divorce in 1971. Willie went on to tie the knot with Connie that same year and remained married until their split in 1988.

Three years after his divorce from Connie, Willie married his current wife, makeup artist Annie D'Angelo. In his series, the dad of eight shared that he "never had met a woman like her before."

"She was whip-smart with a keen appreciation for all forms of art," he noted. "She was pretty and radiated enough energy to light up any room she entered. I fell head over heels in love with Anne Marie D'Angelo."

As for how he feels looking back at the tangled web of his personal life now?

"I've always said there's no such thing as a former wife," he explained. "Once in your life, a wife never leaves. I regret the pain I caused Connie, and Martha and Shirley before her. I have no excuses. I'd be hard-pressed to define love. I know God's love is pure, but worldly love is flawed love, and lots of times confused love."

Despite the journey, Willie is grateful for his destination.

"When it came to romance, I had a gift for complicating things," he shared, "but marrying Annie wasn't complicated at all. It's about the smartest thing I ever did."
 
Keep reading for more fascinating details on some of your favorite singers' love lives.

The "Lose You to Love Me" singer seemingly debuted her romance with the music producer in December 2023, writing in an Instagram comment, "He is my absolute everything in my heart."

Selena—who previously dated Justin Bieber and The Weeknd—has known Benny for at least eight years, as they worked together on her 2015 Revival tracks "Same Old Love" and "Kill Em With Kindness."

The Grammy winner saw sparks fly with the Kansas City Chiefs football player during the cruel summer of 2023.

“This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” she told TIME in December 2023. “We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”

The Hannah Montana alum has been getting flowers from the Liily drummer since 2021.

"It's official between them," a source told E! News in January 2022, with a second insider adding, "They are both artistic and creative, so they bond over being musicians."

The One Direction alum seemingly kicked off his golden romance with the Bones and All actress in 2023 following his split from Olivia Wilde. Harry and Taylor were spotted holding hands in London in September 2023, and he attended her final West End performance in The Effect the following month.

The music legends tied the knot on April 4, 2008 and went on to welcome daughter Blue Ivy on January 7, 2012 and twins Rumi and Sir on June 13, 2017.

"I was 20 years old when we first started dating," Bey told Jay-Z on his birthday in 2006. "You taught me how to be a woman. You taught me how to live. You taught me how to be a friend. You've given me so much in life."

The singer said hello to a new romance when she reconnected with the sports agent in 2021. Later that year, she praised him as "hilarious" and "very smart" during her CBS special, noting, "It's quite incredible watching him do what he does and just the easiness of it and very smooth."

As Adele told The Hollywood Reporter in December 2023, "Rich and I have always known everything about each other since the day we got together." 

After news broke of Ariana's split with husband Dalton Gomez in July 2023, she said "thank u, next" and started a relationship with her Wicked costar, who officially filed for divorce from his wife Lilly Jay in September 2023.

The pair met while working on her 2022 single "Substance" and she debuted her romance with the "Too Easy" artist in August 2022.

"We worked really well together and we're also just super in love," the Disney alum said on The Jennifer Hudson Show in December 2023. "It's amazing to find someone that you just laugh with and that you get to make music with."

They found love after first meeting over a decade ago. The singers performe d"Cockiness" at the MTV Video Music Awards and grew closer over the years. Things seemed to turn romantic by 2018, when they cozied up at a Louis Vuitton fashion show. 

The couple welcomed son RZA on May 13, 2022 and baby boy Riot Rose in August 2023.

Her love didn't cost a thing—except 20 years' wait. Though they originally got engaged in November 2002, Ben and J.Lo ultimately broke up and spent years apart. Their rekindled romance took off, with a second engagement in April 2022 and tied the knot just three months later.