Three's A Crowd

Noma Mchunu, the woman at the heart of soccer player Tokelo Rantie’s marital woes, tells DRUM about their on-again, off-again affair. But she’s not expecting his baby.

- Qhama Dayile

HE SHOT to fame as a promising striker with a deadly right foot but fans can’t help but wonder if soccer star Tokelo Rantie’s personal problems are affecting his performance on the pitch these days.

His future with Bafana Bafana is uncertain after he failed to pitch for qualifying rounds, and the 27-year-old star’s marriage to former reality television star Gaoitswe “Gigi” Pule (26) is reportedly also on the rocks.

At the centre of it all is a woman who once captured his heart. Tokelo’s former flame, Noma Mchunu (26), says she dated the soccer player before he found fame on the field – and again after he and Gigi wed.

Now Noma is pregnant with someone else’s child, but Gigi and her friends aren’t so sure if that’s really the case. For some reason they believe Tokelo has scored away from home and the baby is his, Noma says.

Things aren’t well in the Rantie marriage, it would appear. Reports that their marriage is in troubled waters are backed up by people close to Gigi.

“There was never a marriage there,” says one of Gigi’s friends, who asked not to be named. “These people got married then immediately lived in separate countries.”

Tokelo, of course, started playing for Turkish club Genclerbirligi last year while Gigi stayed in SA.

The couple’s 2015 nuptials were highly publicised and featured on Mzansi Magic’s reality show Diski Divas, in which Gigi starred.

Millions of viewers witnessed their loved-up celebration, but behind closed doors things are apparently not as rosy.

“Gigi doesn’t know her husband is very much obsessed with this Noma girl,” Gigi’s friend says. “How can you separate from someone, [but] then five years later you still love them that strong?”