THERE is a lot of pressure that comes with being in the public eye. It couldn’t be any different for Zwai Bala’s ex-wife, Melanie Son. The musician’s former partner has opened up about how she had to make the world believe that she was okay when deep down she was in distress.
THE TURMOIL
Late last year, Zwai and Melanie confirmed their split and shared that they had already started with divorce proceedings. In their joint statement, the couple shared that they tried to fight for their 17-year-long relationship. The former lovebirds are very cautious when it comes to their private lives, but Melanie slowly lets out and shares details of what transpired towards the end of their marriage. On an Instagram post, she shared that their marriage had ended two years ago. She says whenever she made media appearances; she had to act like things were fine, even when they were not. “What you don’t see is the exhaustion and sadness. My marriage was over, my father had died,” she captioned a picture that was taken on SABC1’s LiveAmp show during that period. Melanie had to deal with two loses at the same time, her father passed on and her marriage had just ended, but the mother of two still went on the show and put on a brave face. The mother of two revealed that she couldn’t deal with the whole loss, saying that she was depressed and had to be put on medication. “I was in therapy, on anti-depressants, barely sleeping and crying every single day. I hid it all very well except to those who are very close to me,” she shares. Speaking to Move!, Melanie says she felt that it was only right to share her flawed experiences with her followers, saying she wanted people to know that celebrities are also human beings and they are not immune to life problems. She says before pressing the enter button, she had no idea of the kind of feedback she would get, but did it to let people in similar situations know that they are not alone. “I’m really happy about the positive response I received. The post touched so many hearts, and they thanked me for sharing my story,” she says.
THE SOCIETAL PRESSURES
A few months before announcing the split, the couple had been playing a happy couple. On a TV interview, Zwai expressed that they had been together for 17 years and he was as smitten as the day he met Melanie. But the star’s ex says gone are those days where people portray happiness to others, saying lives could actually be saved if people spoke more. She urges people to equally embrace the ups and downs of life. “We need to allow ourselves those moments because in doing so, we share the full range of what makes us human. We invite someone who is struggling too, to say ‘I am not alone’,” she says. The mother of two says her crying days are over, and hopes that people draw strength from her experiences.
