Here comes the bride!

It Girl Zozibini Tunzi, the longest-reigning Miss Universe in history, got married over the weekend. 

Zozi, as she’s affectionately known, married Mluleki Bolowana over the weekend at a hush-hush wedding at the stunning Belair Pavilion in the Cape Winelands. 

Zozi, who was crowned Miss Universe in 2019 and stayed in the role for 525 days, shared her stunning wedding photos on her Facebook page on Sunday, writing, “I love you endlessly..Husband🥺❤️”. Aww! But who’s her mysterious husband and who was at the wedding?

What we know about her husband

Not much is known about our new Mr Universe (hey, we don’t make the rules!) except what was shared on their wedding website. 

He is a Manchester United fan and likes Marvel movies and Game of Thrones. “I am a very relaxed, loving and outgoing person. I love spending quality time with my wife. She is a homebody, so I enjoy having movie nights with her,” wrote Bolowana. Bolowana is so mysterious we couldn’t even find him on social media. This isn’t a surprise, though, as Zozi herself is pretty private. 

A dress for a queen

Her gorgeous wedding dress was designed by Vietnamese designer Phan Huy, who revealed in a social media post that the dress took three months to make! “Phan Huy felt deeply honoured and happy when @zozitunzi entrusted him to create a unique gown for her wedding,” the designer said on Instagram. 

Phan Huy also revealed that the making of the dress involved numerous stages and dedicated artisans, totalling over 700 hours of work. “Each flower on the dress was hand-cut and shaped; the veil featured intertwined large and small floral rings adorned with over 300 organza flowers. The 3D floral branches on the gown were meticulously handcrafted by four artisans, incorporating more than 14 types of beads and stones.”

Now that’s a dress fit for Miss Universe!

Where’s our invite?

The wedding was packed with big names – actresses Nomzamo Mbatha and Connie Ferguson, radio host Anele Mdoda, and former Miss South Africa Basetsana Khumalo, who was there with her husband, Romeo.

The celebrations will continue this coming weekend as the gorgeous couple host their traditional wedding ceremony in Zozi’s home village of Tsolo in the Eastern Cape, according to TrueLove.

We can’t wait to see how the newlyweds will look in their traditional Xhosa attire.

Zozi wasn’t the only former Miss South Africa who tied the knot recently. Natasha Joubert, who was crowned Miss SA in 2023, married Enrico Vermaak in an intimate wedding ceremony at the Cavalli Wine Estate in the Western Cape’s Somerset West on 16 March 2025. 

All these high-profile weddings have activated South Africans’ nostalgia for the luxury lifestyle programme Top Billing, which last aired in October 2019. 

The show used to offer South Africans a glimpse into the lives of the rich and famous. And with two former beauty queens getting married? We would have had a feast! We hope the powers that be are watching….. Give the people what they want!

tshego@explain.co.za |  + posts

Tshego is a writer and law student from Pretoria. A keen follower of social media trends, his interests include high fantasy media, politics, science, talk radio, reading and listening to music.

He is also probably one of the only people left who still play Pokemon Go.