Irakli Pirtskhalava's ex-wife, Elena Grebenshchikova, supported the singer during a high-profile scandal involving model Katya Lukyanova. As a reminder, Lukyanova claimed she was pregnant by Irakli and tried to blackmail the artist.

This summer, the "Star Factory" alumnus went through a real drama. No sooner had he announced the resumption of his relationship with Elena than a young and ambitious mistress appeared on the horizon. Katya Lukyanova not only declared an affair with Irakli but also fabricated a pregnancy by him to solidify the outcome. Recently, Pirtskhalava celebrated his 49th birthday, and among the guests was his ex-wife. Elena Grebenshchikova shared how they endured the scandal together and how this event brought them closer.

“At that moment, we had already broken up – normally, as friends. We just realized we didn't want to anymore, that's all: I'm moving on, he's moving on. But we couldn't talk about it due to a certain script for the show 'Bet on Love'. And this girl set him up because she wanted hype. The moment the fuss started, I was vacationing in Montenegro, living my best life. I woke up at 5 AM and saw this in my DMs. I was in shock. It was like a cold shower. I realized we were letting down 'Pyatnitsa', Irakli was letting me down, I was angry at him,” Grebenshchikova recalls.

Elena admits she could have acted differently. But she and her ex-husband had been through too much together to suddenly start airing their dirty laundry. Many were surprised by her benevolent stance, despite the public not knowing all the details. “All these women who initially followed me as Irakli's wife wanted me to condemn him, to suffer. I could have gone down that path, like, I'm an unhappy abandoned woman, dragging it out for a very long time, like Baranovskaya. But we never do that in our family, we're a bit Italian… Irakli was somewhere on tour. I realized the whole world had fallen on him. And I just told him: 'Damn, fine, we'll raise your [little one]!' After that, we became even better friends,” laughs the mother of Irakli's two sons.

The artist was grateful to Elena for her support in a difficult situation; they were constantly in touch. Against this backdrop, Grebenshchikova's relationship with her mother-in-law also improved – it turns out, Pirtskhalava's mother, Nana, once did not accept her daughter-in-law. “Relationships gain the most value in a crisis, when you transform hatred and difficult situations into love. And that happens so rarely… Definitely a new experience for me. Irakli brought a lot of difficulties into my life… From the very beginning. But I'm glad we transformed them into love, that we love each other,” says Elena.

At the singer's birthday, the ex-spouses hugged multiple times, which could have created the impression of another romantic period. However, when asked if they planned to get back together, Elena answered negatively. “Again, for the 159th time? As my mother used to joke, our union is my punishment for not praying, for my grave sins,” Grebenshchikova smiles. “By the way, we just talked with Irakli's mother, she also suggests: 'Come on, get back together.' But what we have now is much more than the love between a man and a woman. Unfortunately, we are still single, because it's such an incredible love… And we seem to keep each other close. But I want a partner, a friend. A different one. I want to marry another person and I want Irakli to be happy.”

The woman also urged not to judge the singer for rash actions that sometimes become public knowledge. After all, he is much deeper than his outward image. “I will always defend him. Irakli is sometimes attacked very unfairly… Because people don't know him well. His actions are sometimes… clumsy. Just like him. His emotional intelligence is simply zero. But… Even when I was in a new relationship and almost married, he was the only one I called to bury my cat. In difficult situations, I always called him and will call him. And I will always love him. I told him that too, so it's not shameful to say it publicly,” Elena concluded.