STARTING OVER

Marta Barba has spent years changing in public. Now she says she's done explaining what every version of her means.

Marta Barba is yelling, but not at anyone in particular. There is no dramatic confession happening in the studio; nobody has mentioned her ex-husband, and nothing has gone wrong. The photographer simply asked her to give him something bigger, prompting Barba to throw both hands against her head, open her mouth, and scream toward the ceiling. The camera fires, capturing the moment, and then she drops her hands, looking for reassurance.

“Was that ridiculous?” she asks, and everyone in the room assures her that it was not. “Great,” she replies, “Then we're done.” This response has become something of a philosophy for Barba lately. For most of her adult life, she has changed in public, and the public has treated every change as something requiring an explanation. A haircut meant something; a missing ring meant something; a new color meant something. A photograph without Leo Barba meant everything.

Now, nearly a year after finalizing one of Costa Nova's most closely watched celebrity divorces, Marta expresses her exhaustion with the notion that every version of herself needs to be decoded. This sentiment is particularly interesting to convey during a magazine retrospective largely devoted to decoding her. She laughs when I point that out, responding, “Okay. That's fair.”

BEFORE EVERYONE STARTED LOOKING

2019 — THE PINK SHOOT

There was a time when Marta Barba could change her hair without generating a week of theories.

Mostly.

In this 2019 portrait, she wears her natural hair in a full afro, a white sleeveless top, and an unapologetically bright sweep of pink across her eyes.

The photograph has become a fan favorite partly because it captures a Marta who seems less interested in looking expensive than in looking interesting.

She was already famous.

She wasn't yet half of Marta-and-Leo.

“I remember that shoot,” she says immediately. “Everybody hated the pink.”

Everybody?

“My team. Not me. That's why I wore it.”

She smiles.

Some things, apparently, have not changed.

THE MARTA EVERYBODY KNEW

2021 — THE GOLD ERA

Two years later, the transformation is obvious.

The natural curls are gone. Her hair falls in long, controlled waves. Crystal earrings frame her face. The yellow gown is structured, embellished, and unmistakably designed to be photographed.

By then, Marta and Leo Barba were one of Costa Nova's most recognizable couples.

Their wedding had been a spectacle.

Fans crowded outside the venue for hours. Photographers filled the entrance. When it became clear that many of the people waiting outside had no intention of leaving, members of Marta's team eventually came out with leftover programs, favors, and the couple's printed thank-you cards.

Some of those cards still appear for sale online.

Marta groans when I tell her that.

“Please don't tell me what they're charging.”

I tell her.

She stares at me.

“I should've kept more.”

For several years after the wedding, this was the Marta the public came to expect: polished, jeweled, photographed beside Leo, every appearance seemingly coordinated down to the last detail.

And somewhere in the middle of all of it was Max.

The little dog appeared everywhere.

At home.

On vacation.

Backstage.

In Leo's arms.

In Marta's lap.

For a while, the three of them looked less like a family than a brand.

Until they didn't.

WHEN EVERY CHANGE BECAME A CLUE

2023 — THE RED ERA

By the time this photograph appeared, the internet had already decided Marta and Leo were finished.

Neither had confirmed it.

That did not stop anyone.

Fans noticed the missing wedding ring first.

Then separate appearances.

Then photographs disappeared from social media.

Then Marta appeared with bright red hair and electric blue eyeliner, and apparently hair dye became admissible evidence in the court of public opinion.

“I just wanted red hair,” Marta says.

Nobody believed that?

“Absolutely nobody.”

She laughs, but the months surrounding the photograph were difficult.

Marta and Leo eventually confirmed their separation, followed by a divorce that became increasingly public despite both initially insisting it would remain private.

Property was divided.

Accounts were separated.

The house was sold.

And then there was Max.

THE ONE THING NEITHER WANTED TO DIVIDE

Max had entered Marta and Leo's life during their marriage.

Both considered him theirs.

When the marriage ended, both wanted him.

“People hear ‘custody dispute over a dog’ and think it's funny,” Marta says.

She doesn't smile.

“It wasn't funny to us.”

People close to the former couple describe Max as one of the most bitter points of disagreement during the divorce.

Leo argued that Max had belonged to both of them and should continue spending time in both homes.

Marta wanted Max to remain with her.

Ultimately, he did.

Leo later described losing regular access to Max as “one of the cruelest parts of the divorce.”

Asked about that statement, Marta's expression changes.

“Leo knows where I live.”

I wait.

She doesn't add anything.

Does Leo still see Max?

“Not really.”

Another pause.

“That's probably enough about that.”

It absolutely is not enough to prevent the internet from discussing it.

But it is all Marta intends to give us.

STARTING OVER

The Marta standing in our studio today looks different again.

Her hair is slicked completely away from her face.

No explosion of curls.

No waist-length waves.

No red.

Her clothes are black. The styling is severe. There is almost nothing competing for attention with her face.

If the 2021 photographs looked constructed to create a celebrity, these seem determined to remove everything except the person underneath.

Marta rolls her eyes when I say that.

“See? That's exactly what I mean.”

What?

“You made the shirt philosophical.”

Fair.

“Sometimes I just like a shirt.”

Point taken.

FOUR MARTAS

Put the photographs beside one another and it's tempting to construct a story.

2019. Natural hair. Pink eyes. Before the marriage became part of her public identity.

2021. Yellow gown. Crystals. Long waves. Marta and Leo at the center of Costa Nova celebrity culture.

2023. Red hair. Blue eyes. Separation rumors everywhere.

2024. Black. Hair pulled back. Divorced. Starting again.

Four Martas.

Except Marta rejects the premise.

“They're all me.”

Surely she feels different now than she did in 2019.

“Of course. Don't you?”

She points toward the monitor displaying the photographs.

“I liked her. I liked her. She”—Marta points at the red-haired photograph—“was going through it, but I like her too.”

And the woman in black?

Marta looks at the newest image.

“She's tired.”

She laughs.

“But she's good.”

WHAT SHE KEPT

A lot disappeared after the divorce.

The shared house.

The ring.

Some mutual friends.

The carefully coordinated appearances.

Even certain pieces of jewelry that had become closely associated with Marta's marriage stopped appearing.

One thing remained remarkably consistent.

Max.

Scroll backward through Marta's life and he keeps appearing.

The styling changes.

The houses change.

Leo disappears.

Max doesn't.

“He doesn't care which version of me anybody likes,” Marta says.

She reaches down toward the little dog sleeping beside her chair.

“He mostly cares whether I have chicken.”

Max does not acknowledge us.

“He's very grounded.”

NO REVENGE ALBUM?

There is one question Marta has been asked more than any other since the divorce.

When is the Leo album coming?

She groans.

“There is no Leo album.”

Not one song?

“I didn't say that.”

Ah.

“I've written angry songs. I've written sad songs. I've written songs that would get me sued if I told you exactly what they're about.”

So the next project is about the divorce.

“No.”

What is it about?

Marta thinks for a moment.

“Everybody talks about starting over like you wake up one morning and suddenly you're a new person.”

She looks again at the four photographs.

“You don't.”

“You just keep going long enough that eventually you look back and realize you're somewhere else.”

SOMEWHERE ELSE

At the end of the shoot, Marta changes back into the clothes she arrived in. The makeup stays. Max finally wakes up. She clips on his leash, and he immediately heads toward the studio door without waiting for her. “See?” she says. “No respect.”

Nearly everything about Marta Barba's public life has changed at least once: hair, clothes, homes, relationships, and the stories people tell about her. She seems less interested these days in controlling those stories. Maybe that's what starting over looks like. Or maybe, as Marta would probably remind us, sometimes a black shirt is just a black shirt.

shirt.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

2019 — Before Marta & Leo: The Pink Shoot

2021 — Inside Marta and Leo Barba's Costa Nova Wedding

2021 — At Home With Marta, Leo & Max

2022 — Trouble in Paradise? The Clues Fans Couldn't Stop Analyzing

2023 — Marta and Leo Barba Finalize Divorce

2024 — Starting Over