Mthombeni and Booth have announced they’re expecting their first child together, four years after the “cheesecake-gate” scandal.
By Kaunda Selisho at The Citizen
Bongani Mthombeni and former Bafana Bafana defender Matthew Booth are expecting their first child together.
The couple announced in early September, in what social media has quickly framed as a full-circle moment for a relationship that first made headlines under very different circumstances.
Mthombeni shared the news on Instagram with a photo of three pairs of trainers lined up together captioned “Tiny kicks are officially on the way.”
She has also posted content on her Instagram stories showing her growing baby bump, including footage from a Hyrox fitness event where she wore a black unitard that made the pregnancy clearly visible, alongside workout clips with Booth.
The baby will be the couple’s first child together. Both already have two children each from previous marriages, meaning the new arrival will bring their blended family to seven; the couple and five children in total.
From “cheesecake-gate” to parenthood
The relationship first became public knowledge in 2022, in a scandal that South Africans nicknamed “cheesecake-gate.”
Booth’s then-wife, former model Sonia Booth, went public on social media accusing him of having an affair with Mthombeni, who was married at the time to UCT engineering professor Klaus Moller.
The saga that many of us witnessed in real time, included claims that Booth had baked a cheesecake in the middle of the night – reportedly for his son’s birthday, but alleged by Sonia to have really been for Mthombeni – along with claims involving tracking devices, a private investigator, and a wave of screenshots and receipts shared online.
At the time, both Mthombeni and Booth were still married to their respective partners, and they initially denied or downplayed elements of the allegations.
Mthombeni faced heavy social media backlash, including being labelled a “home wrecker” and criticised over her appearance in the fallout of the revelation.
Divorces followed for both parties. Mthombeni and Moller finalised theirs in late 2023, while Booth and Sonia finalised their divorce in mid-2024.
Booth and Mthombeni then went public with their relationship around late 2023 and have since built a public profile as a unit.
The aftermath
Mthombeni has previously spoken about the scrutiny that followed the scandal, describing “mistruths” that circulated about her, feeling muzzled at the time, and her focus being on protecting her children throughout. She has said the adversity ultimately strengthened her relationship with Booth.
The pregnancy announcement has led South African social media users to resurface the cheesecake scandal in droves. Reactions have ranged from congratulations to pointed commentary about karma, alongside a fair amount of scepticism and a mix of “shade” (disrespectful, passive criticism, often delivered in a way that affords the speaker plausible deniability so they can pretend they meant no harm).
This article was republished from The Citizen. Read the original here.
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