'You Always Keep A Love In Your Heart'

Joost van der Westhuizen’s first wife Marléne opens up about her happy new life and her feelings for her ex.  

- Marelize Potgieter

SHE was just 16 years old when she started to date a man who’d become a South African rugby icon. Rugged and handsome, he was the object of many a fan’s affection but he was smitten with his petite blonde girlfriend and when they wed he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.

Yet sadly the fairytale didn’t have a happy ending – six years after tying the knot, Joost and Marléne van der Westhuizen divorced.

For years many people blamed the former Bok captain for their marriage breakdown but Marléne – now Duvenage – stayed in touch with the man she’d once loved. In fact, she recently visited her frail ex­husband, whose body has been ravaged by motor neurone disease (MND), from which he’s been suffering for five years.

Although their split made headlines the gym instructor has lived mostly out of the public eye since then. But she’s moved on and talks about her new life in an exclusive interview with us.

“It’s going well,” Marléne (44) says. “But I’ve got a few rough years behind me. I was alone for a long time and I struggled. It just goes to show that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.”

She’s been happily married to Jaap Duvenage (51) for six years and they have two adorable children, Janie (4) and Daniël (2), who keep her on her toes.