Emeli Sandé and Fiancée Yoana Karamova Call Off Engagement After Postponing Wedding Plans

Emeli Sande (left) and Yoana Karemova (right) in April 2023.
Credit: Tristan Fewings/Getty

British singer Emeli Sandé has confirmed the end of her engagement to Yoana Karemova. In an interview with The Sun on January 19, Sandé disclosed that the couple, who had been together since April 2022 and announced their engagement in September 2022, decided to part ways during the summer.

“We both care very much for each other but needed to focus our time and energy on our music careers,” Sandé explained.

The singer first publicly shared details about her relationship with Karemova, a classical pianist, in April 2022, stating they had met through music. At that time, she also expressed her uncertainty about her sexual identity, saying, “I’m not sure what I identify as but I guess so. I just feel like I should fall in love with whoever I fall in love with.”

Yoana Karemova (left) and Emeli Sande (right) in November 2022.
Credit: Joe Maher/Getty

Reflecting on her journey, Sandé shared on social media, “It’s taken me many years to find the strength to be myself. I’ve struggled for a long time to accept myself as I am. I’m so lucky to have found my soul mate Yoana; she’s such an extraordinary woman!”

Initially, the couple had planned to marry in 2023, but Sandé mentioned that their wedding was postponed due to her busy schedule. “We’ve kind of put them on hold until I get this album out and we do the shows this year but we’ll probably start planning next year or early next year,” she previously stated in November 2023.

Before her relationship with Karemova, Sandé was married to childhood sweetheart Adam Gouraguine. The couple wed in 2012 but divorced in 2014.