Fame, while often glamorous, comes with an unforgiving spotlight. For Kenya’s celebrities, the year 2024 proved to be one of seismic personal upheaval, with high-profile break-ups that left fans reeling. From the world of music and comedy to entrepreneurship and content creation, some of Kenya’s most beloved couples found themselves navigating the end of their romantic journeys under public scrutiny.
Kalenjin secular artiste Faith Chepkirui, popularly known by her stage name Faith Therui, is the latest to join the growing list of famous couples who parted ways in 2024.
Her marriage to Addison Cheruiyot hit the rocks three years after their lavish wedding.
Just like when they tied the knot, their separation has taken over social media by storm with the duo opting to wash their dirty linen in public.
Their breakup came in the wake of many high-profile relationships that came to an end this year.
Some of the celebrity splits this year are; Simon Kabu and Sarah, DJ Mo and Size 8, Director Trevor and Mungai Eve, Khalif Kairo and Cera Imani, Flaqo and Keranta, YY Comedian and Marya Akoth, and King Kaka and Nana Owiti.
Faith and Cheruiyot’s separation started as rumours six months ago, but even before the dust on the rumors could settle, the duo decided to go public, trading blames.
Betrayal, deceit and financial loss
Faith was the first to go public, accusing her estranged husband of financial impropriety, infidelity and kicking her out of their matrimonial home.
Speaking candidly in a recent interview, the musician claimed that her sacrifices to support Cheruiyot’s education as a nursing student were met with betrayal.
“I did all I could to help him through his education, only to discover he was cohabiting with another woman behind my back,” she said.
She further alleged that Cheruiyot exaggerated his university fees, forging receipts to siphon money from her.
“I was shocked when I found out he had been forging school fee receipts. It was the last straw, and I decided I couldn’t stay in the marriage,” she said in her first interview after the breakup
Adding to her woes, Faith revealed that she sold off valuable property, including a house and land, at Cheruiyot’s urging, only to be left destitute when the marriage disintegrated.
“After we got married, he asked me to move in including disposing of the property which included a house and a land so that we could live together at his home,” she added.
Faith, a mother of one said little did she know that the plan was to leave her poor and kick her out.
“Looking back, it feels like his plan was to leave me with nothing,” she lamented.
The mother of one confirmed that she plans to file for divorce, stating that the marriage has caused her undue stress.
“I am concerned that continued stay with him is giving me a lot of stress and what I want now as a priority is divorce so that everyone can go their way,” she said.
Counter accusations
Cheruiyot, now a nursing intern, dismissed Faith’s claims, labelling them as fabrications intended to garner sympathy.
“I am equally shocked by the lies she has shared and which has made me go public so that people out there can see where the truth is,” he said.
He says he has tried his best to keep the musician as his wife, but has proved a hard task.
“Out of love that I have for her, I have gone an extra mile in trying to extend an olive branch to her so that we can iron out the differences but she has flatly refused,” he said.
Cheruiyot reveals how things started going south in their marriage, saying while he was away in school, his wife started a wine business, which saw her engage in wrong company.
“I discouraged her from doing alcohol business because I knew the challenges involved and that it would expose her to bad company. I proposed that she ventures into selling designer clothes,” he revealed
After push and pull on the nature of the business that would keep the family going, Cheruiyot says he gave in to her request.
“It started well and I would come home from school every Friday to help her over the weekend in stock taking, restocking, and selling at the outlet,” he said.
Cheruiyot, however says hell broke loose when she started sleeping out and staying late in the name of doing business.
“I started questioning her habit but she brushed me off,” he said.
Caught in the act
He got info that his wife was having affairs with her customers, stayed late and at times failed to go back home for days.
He shared how he decided to go home unannounced only to find her in a compromising position with a customer he had heard about.
“So your guess is as good as mine. That is where we started quarreling and she could not admit that she was having an affair with her so-called clients,” he added.
Cheruiyot says he involved his parents and attempts to solve their differences were futile as the musician could not cooperate.
He confirmed that Faith offered to pay his school fees after getting married.
He, however, said it was not true that he forged receipts to con his wife money to spend with women.
“She paid my fees for two semesters and there are receipts and fee structures to prove what she paid was the exact amount and I did not manipulate fees in any way,” he said.
Cheruiyot says he is now ready for a divorce if Faith wants to move on.
“I’ve accepted the situation and will not oppose the divorce. It’s best for both of us to move on,” Cheruiyot stated.
He says he will not hold any grudge against the musician for choosing to walk away.
Online love
Cheruiyot and Faith met online at the height of Covid-19 pandemic and it was not long before they fell in love.
At the time, Cheruiyot was living in the United States as a sponsored student.
When he came back they started seeing each other before deciding to settle down.
It’s after marrying the musician that Cheruiyot cut short his stay in the USA to stay back with his wife. They decided that he should enroll in a nursing course in the country.
They, however, fell out before he could graduate.
Faith ventured into a music career ten years ago and has belted out more than 10 albums with hits that have topped chats for years.
Her engagement with Addison has seen her slow down her music career saying she was focusing on building her family.