Måns Zelmerlöw writes about turbulent year: “I take responsibility for the infidelity”

Måns Zelmerlöw opens the door himself this time. More than a year after a planned interview collapsed amid demands from his public-relations team, the Swedish entertainer meets Dagens Nyheter at his publisher’s office in Malmö with no conditions attached, only an invitation and a book.

The book, titled “When Everything Falls,” revisits a year in which his divorce became public, allegations of abuse and substance misuse followed, and one of Sweden’s most popular performers suddenly found himself shut out. Zelmerlöw says he has tried to be as self-critical as he was critical of others.

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I have tried to be at least as self-critical as I have been critical.

He describes the present as calmer. He spent his 40th birthday with friends in Mallorca, spent time with his children and worked at his wine bar in Båstad. A viral video of him alone in a makeshift DJ booth was filmed there. A DN columnist interpreted the scene as an image of his fall, from the collective excitement of Melodifestivalen and packed arenas to exposed vulnerability. Zelmerlöw laughs at that reading and says he does not usually read media coverage about himself.

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It was simply wonderful to stand in the garden of my own wine bar and play good music.

“It was simply wonderful to stand in the garden of my own wine bar and play good music,” he says. He had just returned from England, where the divorce had been negotiated. According to Zelmerlöw, the parties had reached an agreement. His former wife Ciara Janson’s lawyer said she would not comment on either the legal proceedings or the book.

Zelmerlöw calls the agreement “an enormous relief” and says, “Now I can turn the page.” That relief was far away in March 2025, after he finished second in the Melodifestivalen final. His frustration was broadcast as he left the arena floor, cried and kicked objects. A nine-year relationship was ending, and his former wife soon announced that she had filed for divorce in England while he had filed in Sweden.

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Now I can turn the page.

She later wrote that she could no longer let the family live in a hostile environment exposed to substance misuse, emotional and physical abuse, and repeated infidelity. The post was deleted and replaced with the word “silenced.” A dispute over the children’s residence followed. Stockholm District Court ruled that they should live in England, where they had primarily grown up, rather than Sweden. The court said Zelmerlöw had a close and good relationship with them, but also cited his drug use. He tested positive after the Melodifestivalen final and says he has not used drugs since.

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I can no longer let my family live in a hostile environment and be exposed to substance misuse, emotional and physical abuse, and endless infidelity.