Shania Twain opens up about physical abuse and violence in her childhood home

In a recent episode of one outlet’s “Wild Card with Rachel Martin,” Shania Twain revealed that her upbringing in Ontario was marked by regular physical violence. She said her mother, Sharon, and stepfather, Jerry Twain, fought often, and the fights sometimes escalated to the point where the walls shook. Twain and her sisters, Jill and Carrie Ann, were also subjected to harsh treatment, including being smacked and kicked.

She noted that her mother attempted to leave the marriage several times, but the family never managed to break the cycle. The couple died in a head-on collision near Wawa, Ontario, in 1987, just as Twain’s music career was taking off. Twain has previously detailed these hardships in her 2011 memoir and in a 2018 interview with one outlet, where she also alleged sexual abuse by Jerry beginning at age ten.