Ricky Martin has opened up about his divorce from Jwan Yosef in a new interview. 

Back in July, the former couple announced that they were calling it quits after six years of marriage. 

“We have decided to end our marriage with love, respect and dignity for our children and honoring what we have experienced as a couple all these wonderful years,” they revealed in a statement to PEOPLE

“Our greatest desire now is to continue having a healthy family dynamic and a relationship centered on peace and friendship to continue the joint upbringing of our children, preserving the respect and love we have for each other.”

Over the last month, Martin has refrained from making additional statements about the divorce – until now. 

In a recent interview with Telemundo journalist Lourdes Collazo, the ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ singer gave further insight into his and Yosef’s divorce, revealing that the decision was made before the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic started. 

“When the public found out, we had already gone through the grieving process,” Martin explained, per Hola!.

“Jwan and I will always be family. We have two children that we are going to raise together, and this is not a recent decision. We have been planning this situation for a long time, it’s pre-pandemic.” 

While their breakup process was hard, the Grammy-winning artist admitted that his relationship with Yosef has improved since breaking up. 

“We look into each other’s eyes and smile, we hug each other, and we go through the ups and downs, we cry together, and we laugh together,” he said.

“It has been wonderful. I even told Jwan we should write a book about how to get divorced properly. In fact, if someone is getting divorced, come and talk to us because we already have this figured out. It has been easier than we thought, but we’ve done it with time and calmness.” 

Martin and Yosef, a Syrian-born Swedish painter, began dating in 2016 after meeting on Instagram.

They announced in January 2018 that they had tied the knot in a secret ceremony. At the time, Ricky told E! News: “I’m a husband, but we’re doing a heavy party in a couple of months.

“We exchanged vows, and we’ve swear [sic] everything, and we’ve signed all the papers that we needed to sign, prenups and everything.”

They welcomed their first daughter, Lucia Martin-Yosef, later that year. Their first son, Renn Martin-Yosef, was born in 2019. Together, they also raised Ricky’s twin sons Matteo and Valentino.