‘He Beat Me To A Pulp'

Skeem Saam actress Shoki Sebotsane opens up about her rocky 10-year marriage to actor Sello Sebotsane, and why she’s only walking away now

- Khosi Biyela

THEY met at the South African State Theatre in Pretoria when she was a chirpy first-year drama student in awe of his work and he an actor on the up and up mesmerised by her beauty.

Sparks flew and when they started working together four years later their chemistry fizzed and sizzled to such an extent they were soon professing undying love for each other at the altar.

Celebrity power couple Sello and Shoki Sebotsane seemed to have it all – looks, success, two gorgeous kids, and a fairytale romance. And during a seemingly idyllic decade of marriage they posed for pictures and smiled for the cameras, held hands on red carpets and welcomed the media into their home.

But behind closed doors the dream soon turned into a nightmare.

Sello (46) – best known for his role as the sensitive rugby player Philane in the SABC2 sitcom Stokvel – was far from the gentle giant he appeared to be to his scores of fans, Shoki (39) claims.

She had always known he had a temper but she thought he would never direct it at her because she was so careful not to provoke him. But, she adds, she was wrong – her husband often took his rage out on her and it became harder and harder to keep up the pretence of happiness.

“I fought so hard to be idolised [by the public] I had to give us a false life just because I wanted the world to see us in a certain way,” the Skeem Saam actress tells us in an exclusive interview.

Almost from day one her marriage was fraught with tension.

At one point the couple slept in separate bedrooms and she took to sleeping with a knife under her pillow in case she needed to defend herself in the middle of the night.

But like many women who find them­ selves in abusive relationships, Shoki thought Sello would change and stayed in the marriage for the sake of the kids – until she simply couldn’t go on any longer.