Businesswoman Bongani Mthombeni made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2022 because of an alleged affair with retired footballer Matthew Booth.
The scandal thrust Mthombeni into the public spotlight as people unpacked the “cheesecake” scandal.
Mthombeni and Booth are now both divorced from their former partners and have even gone public with their relationship.
For the first time, Mthombeni is speaking about finding herself at the centre of a public scandal. As the latest guest on the award-winning podcast “Engineer Your Life with Lungelo KM”, Mthombeni sheds light on who she is and dealing with the difficult time in her life.
In the lengthy interview, Mthombeni sheds light to who she is, her educational and career accomplishments and her headline making social media storm.
“It was difficult to find myself in the centre of a public scandal and what made it very difficult as well was that there were so many mis-truths.
“The tough thing about it was that I could not respond so I felt muzzled a little bit because there's all these things and I found myself in the midst of public ostracism.
“I was insulted by people that didn't even know me. I was ridiculed by people that didn't know me. I was dragged by individuals that believed a single narrative.
“My side of the story was never shared. Matthew's side of the story was never shared to this day; it has just been a one-sided narrative and it was difficult and it was dark.”
Mthombeni shared that she had to protect her children during the dark time and had her number plate on social media.
She also added that the matter went south really quickly and social media shouldn’t be used for personal things and reflected that the storm made them stronger.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW:
IOL Entertainment