IT'S OVER BUT WE'RE STILL PALS

Fashion designer Gert-Johan Coetzee and his husband of eight years, Vicky Visagie, are splitting up – but they’ve dubbed it their ‘happy divorce’

- CYRIL BLACKBURN

CLASSICAL music plays on an antique radio set as the two smiling men are photographed in the stylish Johannesburg home.

Here in the heart of Linden, at the home of fashion designer Gert-Johan Coetzee and his husband, Vicky Visagie, things seem to be pretty much the same as whenever we’ve visited before.

The two playfully tease each other, laughing at each other’s jokes, just as they’ve done for the past 17 years. There’s no sign of anything being amiss, not even a hint of animosity between the pair.

“I never thought I’d be sitting in this living room – where we’ve experienced so much joy over the years – to share this news with the world,” Gert-Johan (33) says evenly.

Then he drops the bomb.

“Vicky and I are in the process of divorcing.”

Six months ago, in this very room with its view of a lush evergreen garden, they agreed to take a “break” from the marriage.

“It didn’t happen overnight,” Vicky (37) says. “Neither of us was surprised, neither of us was fighting. In fact, it’s something that’s been coming up in conversation for years. Maybe for as long as three years.”

The purpose of their six-month separation was to give each of them the opportunity to make up their own minds about the future of their marriage, they say.

Vicky moved out of the house during this time.

“We had no contact for more than three months,” Gert-Johan says. “It was a time of lots of sadness, tears – and incredible amounts of wine.”