Annie Mthembu Breaks Silence on Leaving RHOD and Facing Marriage Struggles

Reality TV star and businesswoman Annie Mthembu, known for her time on The Real Housewives of Durban, has opened up in an emotional and honest interview about her personal life, her painful marriage challenges, and her journey to healing. She shared her story as the first guest on the Engineer Your Life podcast’s Power Women Series 2025 with host Lungelo KM.

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The podcast’s Instagram page posted, “Annie (Ludick) Mthembu is a South African reality TV star and businesswoman, best known for her appearance on ‘The Real Housewives of Durban’. On this very podcast 2 years ago, Annie opened up about her past struggles and how finding a good marriage helped her overcome them. Annie has been in the headlines for the last 3 years, yet has never done a ‘Tell All’ about her private life affairs and the struggles that led to the alleged end of her marriage. In finding her power again, being intentional about her healing and reigning as a businesswoman and mother, Annie (Ludick) Mthembu is in conversation with Lungelo KM on Engineer Your Life as the first guest on the Power Women Series 2025.”

Annie also shared her own heartfelt words on Instagram, writing, “Sometimes choosing yourself feels like the hardest thing in the world, especially when it means letting go of the life you thought you’d have. In my conversation with @lungelokm for @engineeryourlife_, I opened my heart about my marriage, my children, and the lessons life has taught me. This isn’t about gossip, drama, or anyone’s downfall. It’s about growth, healing, and the courage to walk in truth. My hope is that someone out there who feels stuck, silenced, or afraid to choose themselves will hear my story and know, you are not alone, and your happiness matters. This is not the end of my story. It’s the next chapter.”

Annie was a main cast member on RHOD for the first three seasons but took a break in Season 4, which premiered in early 2024.

Explaining the decision, she said, “My husband at the time just felt like everything that we were going through did not need to be publicised and there were cracks already on TV. If you were smart you could see certain things. He was just like no, we’re not doing this again. Let’s recoup in silence. Let’s see what happening. Let’s deal with this as a family at home. No one needs to be involved in our lives. We just need to protect the family so leave the show.”

When asked if she was happy during her last moments on Season 3, she admitted, “No, I wasn’t. I was pretending. I was struggling with so much internally and I had this thing that I had to perform strength, just be strong, be this person that I’ve been from season 1. The emotions were overwhelming.”

Lungelo then asked, “When did you accept that my marriage is no longer beautiful?” Annie answered, “In marriage you accept that you’re going to come across certain things that are going to be difficult for you to deal with. The breaking point for me was me losing myself trying to save the marriage. When I started losing myself and chasing my marriage, trying to keep everything together. I stopped paying attention to my kids because now I’m focused on keeping my husband and myself together.”

She continued, “That was when I was like I’m losing myself. My husband is not in the right space. I have to make a decision now. I need to make sure my kids are my priority. My husband cannot be my priority anymore.”

Annie also spoke openly about infidelity in her marriage, saying, “No one likes to be cheated on. It makes you question yourself a lot. In admitting that I was being cheated on, it felt like I was saying I’m not good enough… I was highly embarrassed. I just wanted to protect all of us.”

When asked where she found her strength, she credited her children and support network: “My circle has lifted me up. They have held me in a tight embrace even when they knew what was happening in my marriage and they were supporting me. I have the best parents ever. They never made me feel bad about it. They said we see it and we love you. They created a sense of peace and safety. They’re really inspiring. I had a really good support system.”