Media personality Somizi Mhlongo has confirmed he and his estranged husband, Mohale Motaung, are divorcing.
On Friday morning, Somizi addressed allegations he physically abused Mohale and said he wanted to finalise his divorce fairly.
Mohale and Somizi made headlines this week after reports Mohale had accused the Idols SA judge of abuse, in an interview Mohale apparently did with producers of the reality show, Living the Dream with Somizi.
Mohale told producers Somizi tried to kill him with a kitchen knife and struck him off the road with his car while he tried to flee. The couple had been arguing about Mohale’s alleged cheating.
Confirming there was trouble in paradise, Somizi's management said he was aware of the allegations of abuse against him and would refer the matter to his lawyers.
Somizi has now given more details on the status of his marriage to Mohale.
He said never had the thought crossed his mind he would need to defend his honour as a result of someone he had loved deeply deliberately harming his reputation.
“I have loved loudly and proudly and, as such, you all have experienced parts of our relationship by virtue of my reality show, our wedding special on TV and our social media platform. Now, you are also audience to what has, sadly, become a breakup between two people laced by defamation,” Somizi said.
He denied physically or emotionally abusing Mohale.
“Our relationship has had its ups and downs but I have never been physically or knowingly emotionally abusive towards my estranged husband. I vehemently deny the allegations of criminal acts towards him and would like to clear my name of that defamation.
“What I am going to state, however, is that we had one altercation in which I had to defend myself and both of us were physically hurt by the other. I am, at this stage, not at liberty to dive deeper into the details but can state that he is not a victim in this situation.”
He also addressed the claims he had sabotaged Mohale's efforts to be financially independent, and the claims about their sex life.
“I have been accused of sabotaging his efforts to be financially independent and can confirm that I have never made a concerted effort to block his networks. In fact, I have encouraged it. I have, even through my own channels, petitioned for opportunities for him to make money through my networks and I've amplified some of the work he's done through his campaigns.
"There have been publications of stories related to our sex life and a lot of what has been said is absolutely untrue. These are very personal matters and I would like to keep it as such.”
Somizi said the reputational damage was affecting his work and ability to make money.
He confirmed he and Mohale were filing for divorce, adding he wished for the process to be “finalised fairly and reasonably”.
His full statement below: