Dani Alves and Joana Sanz split after nine years, citing his evangelical preaching

The announcement

On Friday, 13 November, model Joana Sanz confirmed the split on her Instagram stories. A follower had asked whether she went with her husband to religious services, and she answered with a firm rejection of his new path. She said she had distanced herself from his beliefs and added that the couple had been apart for some time for that same reason. Her reply was the first public confirmation of a break that had been building for a while.

“I am not a believer. The more I see what he does, the further I move away from all of that.”

Divorce proceedings and the reasons given

On 14 November, journalist Javi Hoyos said on Instagram that the couple is in divorce proceedings, after he spoke with Sanz directly. According to Hoyos, Alves's commitment to evangelical Christianity has led him to travel abroad for long stretches as a preacher and conference speaker, pulling him away from Sanz and their daughter. Hoyos said Sanz respects her husband's faith and understands that he wants to practise it, but she feels alone and believes the way he organises his life around religion has damaged their marriage. Hoyos also said Sanz told him that enough was enough and that the relationship was ending there. Neither Alves nor Sanz had made a further public statement on the separation at the time of reporting.

Alves's background and the marriage

Alves left prison in March 2024 after posting bail of one million euros, having served about 14 months of a sentence of four years and six months for sexual assault of a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub. In March 2025 the Catalan high court acquitted him, citing doubts about the reliability of the complainant's testimony, and prosecutors filed a cassation appeal. Reports say the couple began their relationship in 2015 and married in 2017, and that their daughter was born on 1 October 2025. Accounts differ on the length of the marriage, with most citing nine years and one account citing 11. Sanz is a 34-year-old model from Tenerife, and Alves, 43, was born in Bahia, Brazil.

Alves's public activity and the silence that followed

Alves has appeared as a preacher and conference speaker at churches and events, including The Change, held in early May at Madrid's Metropolitano stadium. His official Instagram account has shown videos from his world tour and Bible passages, with no posts about his family or the separation. Alves had not commented publicly on the divorce proceedings when the reports were published. Sanz replied to a post about the split by thanking the journalist for the affection he had always shown her, writing that he was the most respectful of all.

“The most respectful always.”