TV actress, Jo-Anne Reyneke has opened up about her failed marriage to fellow TV actor, Thami Mngqolo and how she lost a lot of weight during her pregnancy.
Jo-Anne and Thami were married for 10 years before calling it quits earlier this year.
It’s been nine months now since the couple went splitsville, and Jo-Anne is ready to let the public in on how she feels about the whole thing.
Speaking to the Fresh Breakfast team on MetroFm this week, Jo-Anne opened up about a number of personal issues.
One of which, was a troubled pregnancy that left her skinny.
Jo-Anne didn’t specify whether it was the first or the second pregnancy, but she did tell the team that her strength came from having a man who really wanted to have kids with her.
So whenever she’d throw up, he was right there to make her more food.
She also spoke about what attracted her to Thami in the first place.
“His sense of humour. And he thinks I’m funny as hell; for 10 years straight I kept him laughing. He’s sweet, and a very smart guy that I learnt a lot from,” she said.
When asked about what is was like being with a man who played a gay character and kissed a man on television, Jo-Anne took the opportunity to set the record straight.
“He’s really straight guys,” she claimed.
The actress, who recently joined Isidingo, said that she and Thami are making it work as co-parents.
“It’s been 8/9 months now but because he is a great guy, it is very easy to be a co-parent with him. He is a wonderful guy; great dad and a good friend to me. It’s just that as partners it wasn’t working anymore. Whenever you get to feel in a relationship that maybe I deserve more, maybe I’m not what you deserve, it’s time to part,” she said.
Jo-Anne said she had been in denial about the relationship coming to an end for about six months before facing reality.
She said that when you hear that all relationships have their ups and downs, at first you just assume that this is your down.
But she had a breaking point.
“But then you’re like no, I must want to come home after work. Let’s be happy for our kids, our kids deserve happy parents,” she said.
The actress went on to saying that the separation was so painful it felt like mourning.
“It was like a death in your life because you no longer have anyone who is checking up on you, who is thinking for you more than they think for themselves, now it’s just you by yourself,” she continued.
Jo-Anne said even though she misses the regular sex, she is not actively looking for a man right now.
“They key is not to look, the key is to let God make things happen, let’s say I’m painfully single," she said.
Jo-Anne and Thami have two children together, a five-year-old daughter, Ovolwethu and a three-year-old son, Lungelo.
Catch Jo-Anne in her brand new role as Lungi Biyela, a widowed business fixer on Isidingo weeknights at 19:00 on SABC 3.
