LONDON, England – Singer Tytan says he was left “destroyed” after discovering that his ex-wife Olinda Chapel hid from him that she is HIV positive.
Tytan, real name Njabulo Nkomo, says Olinda said she decided not to tell him because she wanted to “live a normal life”.
Olinda, responding to Tytan’s revelations, described her ex-husband as “evil” and equated the disclosure to “revenge porn”.
Speaking in an interview on the Facebook-based ZimboLive TV, Tytan said he suffered physical and mental abuse from Olinda until he decided to call time on the marriage in August last year.
He told how on at least eight occasions she locked him out of their house and repeatedly threatened to get him deported back to Zimbabwe.
Olinda was pregnant with their daughter when he says he began noticing an unusual amount of medication being delivered.
Tytan said he was in denial when he looked up the medication on Google and discovered it was for HIV.
“I thought maybe it’s a precaution, just to make sure the baby is safe,” Tytan said.
Afraid of triggering an argument with Olinda, he said he held back from asking her why she was keeping the medication.
He revealed: “It kept affecting me, so one day when she was in a happy mood I decided let me try and ask. I said to her ‘I have noticed now when you are going to the hospital there’s different medication you have been getting. How come it’s different now?’ I stalled myself, and finished by saying I know the truth now. I left the house to go to the studio.
“As soon as I left, I got a call and she was crying. It was really shocking for me because it was confirmation of what I suspected. She said she didn’t want to tell me because she wanted to live a normal life, and I thought, so you decided to deprive me a normal life?
“At that time I didn’t know what kind of human being I was with. What kind of person would do that? I really struggled thinking, maybe that’s my life now.
“Her excuse at that time for not telling me was that the HIV was undetectable. It dawned on me that all along I was the only one getting tested. She used to tell me that because of her profession, she regularly tested. I trusted her.
“Everything changed. I promised I was going to take care of my daughter. I got tested, and was put on a four-month course of anti-retroviral medication. I was okay. After that, I have been testing regularly.”
Tytan said the discovery “destroyed me” and he knew their marriage would not last.
“It became an unhappy house,” he said.
Olinda admitted she was HIV positive but said she was “heart-broken” that Tytan had made the disclosure without her permission.
“It was not an issue of I didn’t tell him. I don’t want a part of my private life being put out there. It is my choice, my right whether I want to tell this or that person. According to British law it’s as good as revenge porn what he has done,” Olinda stormed.
“That man is evil. I’m in shock… my heart is broken.”
She was also furious with his disclosure that she had been abused as a child, insisting that she had told him in the strictest confidence.
Tytan married Olinda in March 2018, months after calling time on her rocky relationship with rapper, Desmond Chideme, who is popularly known by his stage name, Stunner.
