Christall Kay is many things in different circles, but there is no denying that she got to the zenith of fame on the wings of the Real Housewives of Johannesburg reality TV show. The socialite who has had a pretty exciting but rather controversial run on the show is anything but a housewife in the real sense of the word. Aside from RHOJ, she has tried her hands on various career paths; Christall is a Lawyer, an afro-pop singer/songwriter, a model, a serial entrepreneur, and a showbiz personality.
Although she was very much married in the first installment of the reality show, she came back for the second season divorced but still having the time of her life. From all of her revelations, it is clear that a lot happened between the end of RHOJ season 1 and the second season, which the star has not hesitated to talk about. True to her happy and open nature on the show, she has not spared her fans details of why they could not make the marriage work despite having a child between them. The RHOJ star Was married to Eddie Kay before their marriage ended in a divorce that saw her taking on the second season alone.
Christall Kay And Her Ex, Eddie Greef, Started As Best Of Friends
There was no doubt that Christall Kay’s ex-husband, Eddie, was loaded and able to afford the luxurious lifestyle the TV personality loved to show off. Many often wondered what he did for a living, especially seeing as his life was not as open to the public as Christall’s was. From her revelations, Eddie Greef is a financial adviser who works with Liberty life. She also explained that his job is pretty important and involved lots of traveling, which was probably why he did not make appearances on the reality TV show RHOJ, which made his ex-wife became a star. Eddie is also an outdoorsy person and spends a good measure of his time off work bonding with nature.
Eddie and Christall met many years ago in 2007 as neighbors who lived next to each other at apartments in Morningside, Johannesburg. They were friendly neighbors at first but soon became best friends, sharing each other’s victories while living their individual lives. After a few years of being friends, they decided to get married. For them, it was not a situation of love at first sight, and it was not a love they grew intentionally. Their friendship grew to the point where they felt they could make a marriage work together.
In 2011, after four years of being friends, Christall Kay took the bull by the horn when she proposed to Eddie, and they got married. They held a lavish wedding ceremony with their families and friends in attendance at Joburg’s exclusive Summer Place. They honeymooned in Rio de Janeiro, which Kay said was her attempt at creating what she hoped was the start of a good life together. To her credit, the marriage worked well while it lasted, considering that they started as just friends. More so, they weren’t known to have had any public issues.
How Christall Kay Became a Part Of RHOJ
While many of the housewives on the Real Housewives of Johannesburg show said they had to go through an audition to be cast on the show, the same cannot be said for the controversial Christall Kay. From her accounts, she had always been a huge lover of Reality TV shows and wanted to be a part of that kind of life but never dreamed it will come true the way it did. Kay revealed she had wanted to be on reality tv five years ago but was only approached by the producers of RHOJ in 2019 to be on the show. At the time, she said she was pretty excited and asked the producers how they knew she would be interested in the show.
Joining the cast of RHOJ was basically a dream come true for the lawyer turned entrepreneur because, in her words, if you have beautiful things, it’s important to show them off. However, when the show began, it quickly became apparent that Christall was totally different from all other housewives in more ways than she cared for. First, she observed that she was culturally different, and that was where all the controversies began. Next, it seemed that the girls were often talking over her head in their local languages, which they knew she did not understand.
In addition to all of the above, the fact that they have different backgrounds and ideologies meant the other cast members don’t often appreciate her sense of humor, so in the end, it seemed like she was often alone against the rest of the team. In particular, her constant beef with co-star Brinnette Seopela created all the drama the show needed. In her opinion, the fact that she is rich, white, beautiful, accomplished, has many businesses and a wealth of beautiful life experiences, worked with Charlize Theron, met Bill Clinton and so many other movie stars makes her a good target for other housewives to gossip and be jealous of.
Despite all these, there she was undoubtedly one of the reasons the first installment of the reality show was successful. Although the first season of the show received poor ratings, fans applauded the life and performance of Christall Kay as open, interesting, and definitely worth the time. True to the reviews, Christall Kay returned for RHOJ season 2 while many other housewives were bid a very welcome goodbye. If Real Housewives of Johannesburg Season 3 was to be made, there is no doubt that Kay would be a part of it.
Did Her Appearance on RHOJ Facilitate Her Divorce?
While many have wondered if putting their private life on public display on the show contributed to the end of Christall’s marriage in any way, she admitted that it certainly did. Per her admission, from the very beginning, Eddie was not in support of sharing their personal lives on TV for many to relax to, and he was very vocal about this. To further make things difficult, the socialite felt her husband had never understood her passion for the arts and would rather prefer she lived a quiet and private life as a lawyer, even though that is very far from who she is and what she wanted to do with her life.
Although her marriage did not receive as many criticisms as her many outrageous claims on the show did, putting their private life out there and opening it up to public opinion certainly took a toll on the union, which they tried to sort out in their own way by talking it out. Talks soon graduated to fights which started small but only got more intense as the season progressed. Even though they had all the money they needed, the romance fizzled out pretty soon as the fights continued, and it soon became apparent that they were back to being just friends, which was where they started.
The Socialite Initiated The Divorce Proceedings
When her marriage became all about fights because of her work on TV, Christall admitted it was better they laid their cards out and be honest with each other about where they stood and what they wanted. Taking a critical look at the situation, she realized she had fallen out of love with Eddie, so she decided to end the union.
On the other hand, her husband thought what they had was worth fighting for, and as such, it took him a long time to come to the reality that the marriage was over. In the end, she admitted that he was not opposed to her appearing in the second season of the RHOJ show, but they were not together long enough for any of that to matter anymore.
The couple got divorced in an amicable and not messy fashion, which is often not the case with celebrities. Seeing as Eddie was not one for airing his dirty linens in public, many were not surprised. The terms of their divorce were not open to the public, but seeing as Christall has always had her own money, the divorce was fast and clean. The couple put up their beautiful Kyalami mansion for sale at the asking price of R18.5 million.
It is not clear if they will split the proceeds from the sale, considering the socialite’s claims about putting a lot of work and money into making the house the beautiful home many of her fans admired on the show. Eddie has since moved on and is dating someone else, which Christall is totally okay with. On her part, she has continued her show business, which gives her all the joy she wants.
Christall Shares a Son Named Luke With Her Ex-Husband
Christall’s marriage to ex-husband Eddie did not end completely empty. The former couple shares a child Kay gave birth to a few years into their marriage on the 30th of April 2013. The child, whose name is Luke, is currently 10 years old and remained with his mother after his parents’ peaceful divorce. It is not certain how involved Eddie Greef has been in his life.
While Luke has not made many appearances in the Real Housewives of Johannesburg with his mother, he can often be heard playing in the background or doing his own thing. Kay has not spared words in often showering praises on her son whenever she posts his pictures on her social media handle. While it seems Kay’s marriage did not survive past their years of friendship, she never fails to appreciate the opportunity to be a mother to the son she calls the light of her world.
Where Is Christall Kay Now?
When Christall announced her Divorce from her ex-husband Eddie Greef, she said she had gotten to the point where she could no longer live a lie and had to be honest with herself in her decision to let go. Since then, questions have been rife about whether she has returned to the dating game. Understandably, she seemed content just being the best mother to her son Luke and focusing all of her attention on the second season of RHOJ amongst all of her other career pursuits in showbiz.
More recently, in 2021, however, it came to light that the socialite is not just back to the dating game but is actually going steady with a UK-born Johannesburg businessman who she has refused to divulge much about except for the fact that his name is Mark. They have been together for only a few months, which she described as blissful in an interview with Grace Norman of Oh Gee! show.
To further clarify, she said she is still far from considering marriage; they are only just getting to know each other and would not want to rush the process.
A Look at Christall Kay’s Life Before She Hit The Limelight
Contrary to popular beliefs, Christall Kay has not always been the sophisticated reality star with all the wealth she wants at her disposal. Born and raised on the Bluff in Durban, she had the most humble beginnings with middle-class parents who let her spend a good amount of her childhood outdoors at the beach, either swimming or snorkeling. She had her secondary education at Grosvenor Girls High School and went on to University of KwaZulu-Natal, where she obtained her Law degree. Soon after she graduated, she made the big move to Johannesburg, where her Law career kicked off in earnest.
She would later admit that she studied law even though she has always known she wanted to be in the show business. After being in practice for 10 years and seeing things being done differently from what she had imagined it would be like, Christall Kay made the bold move of quitting her law practice to pursue passions closer to her heart and explore her creative side.
Going all the way back, the former lawyer went for a Music and Marketing certification course from the University of Witwatersrand. On completing the course, she traveled out to New York to broaden her horizon in music by meeting and working with bigger talents. She would return six months later to head the afro-pop band, Seed, while nursing ambitions to pursue a solo career. She later achieved that dream with the release of her 2014 single, Set Apart, which, according to her, was a massive success because it went onto the playlist of major radio stations in SA at the time and was promoted in California too.
Long before her venture into music, Christall Kay had explored her creative passion as a model. At the time, she featured as a fashion model, graced the covers of several magazines, and participated in the Rooi Rose model search alongside Charlize Theron when they were both much younger. Taking things a notch higher after her Law Career ended, the rising star took the initiative to study at the South African Image Academy for a certification course in Image Consulting.
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