- Mohale Motaung sat down for his first interview following the end of his marriage to Somizi Mhlongo.
- In the tell-all Showmax special, Mohale On The Record, Motaung shares inside details about his marriage to the Idols SA judge.
- Here Keitumetse Maako breaks down key moments from his interview with Aldrin Sampear.
- Warning: this article contains spoilers.
It's been weeks since the teaser of his highly anticipated tell-all interview was released. On Thursday, Showmax subscribers finally got to hear Mohale Motaung's side of the story on Mohale On The Record.
In the exclusive interview, Motaung sits down with broadcaster Aldrin Sampear and sheds light on what happened between him and his estranged husband, Somizi Mhlongo, a year since divorce proceedings were initiated.
5 Highlights from the interview
1. Setting the record straight
When Mhlongo and Motaung met in 2017, Motaung told Sampear that he was not a fan but "liked how he advocated for being himself." Motaung's account dispels what Mhlongo's daughter, Bahumi, said about the couple's relationship being like that of a fan and celebrity during a conversation with her mother, Palesa Madisakwane, in an episode of the fifth season of Living The Dream With Somizi.
While Motaung said he did not watch the show, he was "particularly shocked" when he learned that his name came up quite often in multiple conversations throughout the season.
"There was a legal document binding both of us from speaking about each other on platforms like these," he said. He added that while he could not speak for Bahumi and Palesa's views on his relationship, "that is probably how they see it with other people because they spend a lot of time with Somizi [and] around people who are his fans, I was definitely not a fan."
Motaung also opened up about cheating early on in his relationship with Mhlongo. He initially admitted to cheating in an audio recording leaked in 2021.
"We were three months into the relationship. It's not really something to be proud of because it was hurtful for me to see him being that hurt, and I can't even sit here and say there was a reason for it happening. It was just me being selfish and not thinking about him – that was just not on."
2. More than one proposal
In 2018, the lovebirds jetted off to Paris, where they would return as a couple gearing up to walk down the aisle after Mhlongo popped the big question at the Eiffel Tower. However, things got slightly sticky when Mhlongo finally met his long-time crush, Orlando.
According to Motaung, Mhlongo introduced Orlando as his friend – just before popping the big question. Motaung added that a day after they got engaged, Mhlongo asked him what he thought about threesomes.
Motaung told Sampear that when he asked Mhlongo why, Mhlongo told him he wanted them to have a threesome with Orlando. "It wasn't a red flag because he said to me that there was nothing happening."
3. The red flags
"He really wanted me to be a househusband, that was his biggest dream, and when I didn't allow myself to be in that position, or for that to take place, a lot of things started not being okay in that relationship," he said in the interview.
Motaung said that Mhlongo encouraged him to resign from his 9 to 5 job leading up to their trip to Paris because his then manager told him he could not take leave.
"Without my knowing, Somizi sent an email to my boss asking her to release me to go to Paris because flights and accommodation have been booked.
"I was shocked, and I had that conversation with him, and upon us having that conversation, he then said to me that I need to resign. He kept telling me, 'You need to resign because this Paris trip has to happen. You can't be working a 9 to 5 job. You need to resign because there are other business interests that you can take part in.'"
Motaung also said that Mhlongo asked his former friend TT Mbha to speak to "certain people".
"A big reason why Somizi and TT Mbha are not talking is because Somizi asked TT to go speak to certain people and tell them not to hire me."
According to Motaung, it was "hurtful" that his husband and his best friend conspired against him. When Sampear asked if Motaung was referring to the job from the Fergusons, he agreed.
"He (Somizi) told me that he went and told TT Mbha to speak to the Fergusons at the time because he was close to them. When I confronted TT about this, he then had to come clean and tell me who exactly told him to do that," Motaung said to Sampear. "Somizi is angry that TT was not loyal enough to come up with a story."
4. The alleged physical abuse
In one of the alleged physical abuse incidents, Motaung said it happened when he returned from Durban. "That part of my life was a very dark time," he said.
"He was angry at the fact that I went to work in Durban," Motaung said. When he returned home, things took a turn for the worst when Mhlongo allegedly followed him upstairs and threw champagne at him.
"I remember him saying that he needs to mess up my face because this beautiful face is messing things up for him. I remember having to cover my face because the shoes that he was wearing were really going to damage my face. He started hitting me in the ribs, started hitting my legs, and I couldn't walk; I crawled down the stairs."
5. Settling their estate
According to Motaung's court papers, shown in the interview, he has never wanted half of Mhlongo's assets. Instead, Motaung said he was "shocked, yet again" when he heard Mhlongo claimed he wanted 50% of his assets.
"The very first letter that we sent to Somizi on 25 June 2021 stated that I wanted my clothing, the car he bashed (valued at a minimum value of R200 000), and I want the money for the wedding (R750 000) which belongs to the both of us."
Motaung said he was entitled to the R750 000 because it was money from their wedding special.
"I was shocked when he said I wanted 50%. Instead, in his response to the letter that we sent out to him, that he sent back to us on 25 July, he's the one who suggested that we go for the division of the joint estate, and to my surprise, he then goes on his show and says I asked him for 50% of his assets."
News24 has reached out to Somizi for comments made in the Showmax special. He did not respond to any attempts to contact him. News24 also reached out to his media team, who, at the time of publishing, had not yet responded. Should News24 receive a response, it will be added to this article.
In a previous interview with News24 about his return to Idols SA amid the allegations against him, Somizi said: "If you have noticed, I've never spoken about anything, and I believe my private life is my private life, and my work life is my work life, so I'm still staying there. I feel like I can't say anything at the moment, and I don't want to say anything at the moment with regard to that. All I can tell you is it was one of the toughest times of my life and my career, but we move forward and like we say: 'Innocent until proven guilty.'"
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/5-takeaways-from-mohales-explosive-interview-on-the-record/?feed_id=6840&_unique_id=62ecb5163cd64
